io ῳ : πὶ τ oat Pues wl BY THE SAME AUTHOR. Crown 8vo, Cloth 3s. HELPS TOWARDS BELIEF IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. With Preface by the ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH. Small post 8vo, Cloth boards, 1s. SPOKES IN THE WHEEL OF LIFE. Addresses to Young Men at St Andrew's, Wells Street, W. PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE LONDON : NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C. ΞΡ wT . THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST WORDS OF OUR LORD NOT RECORDED IN THE FOUR GOSPELS INCLUDING THOSE RECENTLY DISCOVERED WITH NOTES BY C. G. GRIFFINHOOFE, M.A. ST JOHN’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE RECTOR OF STRETHALL CAMBRIDGE: W. HEFFER & SONS LONDON: EDWARD ARNOLD 1903 PREFACE Tue title of this short work may need a word of explanation. “The Unwritten Sayings of Christ” must be taken to mean “the Sayings of Christ” written, it is true, in various Christian writings, but not written in the Four Canonical Gospels, which are the official record of the life and teaching of the Lord. The “ Agrapha,” or “Sayings of Christ unrecorded in the Gospels,” are, it is to be regretted, by no means widely known, and to many they are almost a sealed book. The endeavour in these pages has been to collect these “Sayings” together, including those which the latest research has brought to light ; to give the authorities on which they lay claim to be genuine utterances of our Lord; to offer some explanation of, and notes upon, different “Sayings ” ; and to present the whole subject in a readable form. With this end in view, every quotation and refer- ence and parallel passage has been given in full in English, and wherever possible the Revised Version vi PREFACE has been used, so that ordinary readers may read straight on, and not be at a loss by the use of Greek and Latin. On the other hand, those who wish for the original authorities will find the Greek and Latin passages in the footnotes, to which they can refer. It has been impossible in a short work of this kind to mention every instance in which I am indebted to other modern writers on this subject; a list is given of the works consulted, and I hereby acknow- ledge my general indebtedness to the authors, As regards the grouping of the “Sayings,” I have mostly followed Nestle and the still later work of Preuschen. No attempt has been made to give every statement from, or every “ Sayig” quoted in, the various non- Canonical ‘ Gospels,” and other early Christian writings mentioned in the course of these pages. The en- deavour has been simply to collect together the more wmportant “Sayings”; and, therefore, those that are very nearly akin to “ Sayings” we already possess, as well as those which convey no new point of teaching or of historical fact, have been omitted. PREFACE Vii I tender my thanks for suggestions to the Rev. Dr Swete, Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge; and for kind help to Dr Rendel Harris, until recently University Lecturer in Palzo- graphy ; and to A. N. Fynes-Clinton, Esq., M.A., of Christ Church, Oxford, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Every “Saying” that fell from our Lord’s lips— written or unwritten—within or without the Gospels —must always be supremely attractive to Christians ; and these pages will have fulfilled their aim if, per- chance, they should lead to increased reverence for Him who “ has the words of eternal life.” C. G. G. Campriper, May 1903. --- ese it hin ili! Le ove ἡ ae or ἢ νι hae i ras yo δὴ : | j 4 CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER, . . ‘ ᾿ ᾿ ins SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS—SAYINGS, WITH NOTES AND EXPLANATION, 17 SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE EBIONITE GOSPEL—SAY- INGS, WITH NOTES AND EXPLANATION, ᾿ : 36 SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE EGYPTIANS—SAYINGS, WITH NOTES AND EXPLANA- TION, . > 3 ὃ é ; 41 SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE (SO-CALLED) SECOND EPISTLE OF CLEMENT—SAYINGS, WITH NOTES AND EXPLANATION, 45 SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE RECENTLY DISCOVERED “LOGIA”—SAYINGS, WITH NOTES AND EXPLANATION, 55 SAYINGS FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT EPISTLES, WHICH MAY ALSO BE SAYINGS OF CHRIST, . 3 5 68 SAYINGS FROM THE FATHERS AND ELSEWHERE WITH NOTES AND EXPLANATION, . d ξ : 75 SAYINGS OF PARTLY DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY, ὶ 7 109 Agrapha. Aussercanonische Paralleltexte. Die Spriiche Jesu. Das erste Buch Jet. Das Hebriier Evangelium. _ Evangeliorum sec. Hebraeos, ée. Geschichte des Neutestament- lichen Kanons. Novi Test. Supplementum. ἢ Antilegomena. _ Leben Jesu nach den Apochry- _ Gospel according to Hebrews. _ Introduction to New Testament. 4 ” » Study of Gospels. Apostolic Fathers. _ Doctrine of Addai the Apostle. Ancient Syriac Documents. ᾿ ' _ Diatessaron of Tatian. Codex Algerince Peckover. _ Sayings Ascribed to our Lord. LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED Texte und Untersuchengen. Ed. GrpHarpt unp Harnack. ALFRED REscu. Aur. Rescu. J. H. Ropes. Cart ScuMIprT. Rupotex HanpMANN. ἌΡΟΙΡΗ HILGENFELD. THEODOR ZAHN. Exeru. ΝΈΒΤΙΕ (1896). ERwin PREvUSCHEN (1901). Rupoiee Hormayy. ἘΠ. B. NicHouson. G. Saumon. B. F. Westcorr. J. Β. Lientroor. G. Painuiprs. W. Wricxrt. J. Renpet Harris. ” ” J.T. Dopp. ΧΙ Twenty-five Agrapha. Lost and Hostile Gospels. The Oxyrhynchus Logia. The Oxyrhynchus Papyrt. Sayings of our Lord. Sayings of Jesus. Cambridge Texts and Studies. Acts of John. Apocalypse of Baruch. Sinaitie Palimpsest. Palestinian Syriac Lectionary. Ephraem Syrus (“ Evang. Concord. Expos.”), Camb. Companion to Bible. Sayings of Jesus (“ Expositor,” vol. 6). Oxyrhynchus Fragment (“ Ex- pository Times,” Sep. 1897). Sayings of Jesus (“ Expositor,” Oct. 1897). New Sayings of Christ ( Con- temp. Rev.,” Aug. 1897). So Called Logia (“ Expositor,” Sep. 1897). Logia and Gospels (“Con- temp. Rev.,” Sep. 1897). LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED BLOMFIELD JACKSON. S. Barine GouLp. C. TAYLOR. GRENFELL ἃ Hunt. ” ” Lock & SANDAY. M. R. JAMEs. 39 ” A, 5. Lewis. Lewis & GiBson. MOoESINGER. Ap. Harnack and Note by J. A. Ropinson. H. B. SwEte. J. A. Cross. M. R. James. H. A. REDPATH. J. RENDEL Harris. "Ἄν νηῤίων, ἢ τς ae pO ee PS ρὸν 5.“ ager tare 2 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER For the words actually spoken by our Lord, Christians throughout the world have the greatest reverence—and especially is this true in England at the present day. Religious belief may at times be disturbed by the paralysing effect which it is rumoured the (so-called) new criticism, real or conjectured, is to exercise on old- fashioned faith, or by the would-be prophets who foretell that Christianity is doomed ere long to be replaced by some new form of religion, which the twentieth century is to unfold. Men’s minds may at times be saddened because they feel that counsel is darkened by theological disputes as to what Christ’s sayings, when we do know them, exactly mean ; or because they regret the divisions among the followers of The Crucified, which pretend to be based on the words of Him who so strongly pleaded for unity; or because in these rushing days it becomes less and less possible for the hard-worked business man to find time to give attention to anything, save the pressing duties of life, least of all to that which concerns religion. And yet with all these drawbacks there exists an enormous reverence for the simple, yet awful utterances which fell from the lips of Him who was God and man. What Christ said is a matter of A 1 2 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST deep interest to most. However imperfectly they may be prepared to observe the full spirit of His sayings, they will reverence them as His and try to some extent to put them in practice in their own inconsequent way. Amid the rush of life they respect as they respect nothing else what Christ really taught, and long to apply His words to the many anxious problems of the day. When He has spoken, they feel that they will at least do well to be silent. Since this is so, it becomes of the highest importance that any sayings which may reasonably be said to be those of Christ, even though they lie outside the received Gospels, should be widely known. Such knowledge can but be edifying, and useful in aiding us to further unfold the meaning of those sayings we already possess in the Gospels. It may be desirable here to remark that the absolute authority of the Four Canonical Gospels, is throughout these pages taken for granted. lIrenzus in a curious passage speaks of the Gospels as being of necessity four in number, unless the pattern on which the universe was planned should need alteration. And Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen are equally strong on the supremacy of our Four Gospels. And not in these writings alone, but well nigh universally it is conceded that the Four Gospels are the authoritative Christian documents as regards the life of Christ ; that for some good reason. they contain what they do INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 3 / contain, and for some equally good reason do not contain what they do not contain. In them we have all the statements about the life of the Lord which, for our salvation, it is necessary for us to believe in: but that is very far from saying that these may not be survivals of “sayings” which, though lying outside the actual Gospels, may yet claim on good authority to be those of Christ, and therefore of great interest to us. What the Church of the early days needed was definite and authorised histories of the Life, the Death, and the Rising again of the world’s Redeemer. It was on these facts that the faith was built; it is on these facts even now that our salvation rests. And in the Four Gospels we have these facts set forth by men who wrote—so the Church believes—under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There need, therefore, be no thought in reverent minds that in these pages there is any attempt to set up a new collection of our Lord’s sayings, which should in any way claim the same authority with those sayings of His registered for us in the Four Gospels. No article of faith can be established by these additional sayings, even if many of them should be, as we think, “of Christ”; nor can any rule of Christian conduct be enforced by means of them. “Sayings of Christ” they may be, yet of secondary importance to those in the Gospels, and yet of the deepest interest as coming from the mouth of the Lord. The thoughtful reader of the New Testament will 4 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST not be in the least surprised at having placed in his hands a collection of sayings attributed to Christ, and other survivals in connection with the life of the Lord, all of which are unrecorded in the Canonical Gospels. The very frequency with which we read the Gospels, or hear them read, goes far without our knowing it to render us at times liable to pass over, as unimportant and commonplace, the very texts which plainly seem to indicate that there may be in existence records of other things which Jesus did, and other words which Jesus spake, besides and in addition to the acts and words recorded in the Four Gospels. St Luke’s opening words are these: “ Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus; that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed.” Here we have it stated, by the Evangelist himself, that when he wrote what is known as St Luke’s Gospel, there were already in existence narratives of our Lord’s life, which he for various reasons did not regard as wholly satisfactory, and in consequence of the existence INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 5 of which, he, that Theophilus might know the certainty concerning those things wherein he had been instructed, set about compiling an authorised, regular, and from his point of view, sufficient, account of those things, which should be given to the world on his own un- impeachable authority. St John gives us further two striking passages in the same strain, “Many other signs therefore,” he writes, “did Jesus in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing, ye may have life in His name,” *— and again: “ And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written.” * Whether these texts are actually the words of St Jobn himself, or whether they may be notes appended to the writing of St John by some faithful scribe when it was given to the world, does not concern us here. It is sufficient for us to notice that among those who received the Gospel of St John, and used it as from him, it was an acknowledged fact that there were other records of the life of Christ, possessing possibly but little authority, but still records, and records in which doubtless might exist sayings and doings of the Master, 1 John xx. 30, 31. 2 John xxi. 25. 6 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST which St John, as also St Luke, had not seen fit for their purpose to chronicle. Thus then we are not without the authority of the Canonical Gospels themselves for stating that there once existed other records of the life of Christ and in consequence other “sayings” than those preserved by the Evangelists. In such survivals great interest must be felt by all. What has to be guarded against is the acceptance of such supposed “sayings” on authority that is unreliable, and the consequent possibility, did we not know it to be otherwise, that we were being made the dupes of cunningly devised fables. Moreover similar testimony as to the possibility of there being other sayings of Christ than those in the Four Gospels is borne both by the Acts and Epistles. St Paul in his solemn and moving address to the Ephesian Elders bids them “ remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said—It is more blessed to give than to receive.” The actual words cannot be said to be in the Gospels, and St Paul must here be referring to some Christian writing, or at least some commonly known Christian tradition, which contained these words as a definite saying of the Lord. Once again, St James makes mention of “ the crown of life which the Lord promised to them that love Him.”? If we were asked, where in the Gospels the Lord is recorded to have exactly made this promise, it 1 Acts xx. 35. 2 James i. 12. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 7 would be difficult to fix the place: and here also it is probable, that St James is referring to some Christian writing then well known and used, which contained this extra-canonical saying of the Lord, though it was not recorded in the actual Gospels. To any one who studies the question, it will seem surprising that the words of Christ recorded in the Four Canonical Gospels are so few in number. It might even be expected, that some record would have been kept of the many words which must have been spoken at Nazareth in those many years before the ministry began. Certainly it would seem that, whether we accept the possibly extreme view of Tertullian that the actual ministry only lasted one year, or lasted as is commonly supposed about three years, or was even as some have said of much longer duration than that, we might expect that many more “sayings” would have been preserved, as uttered during the days when He was preaching, and teaching, and moving from village to village, and gathering men into the Kingdom of God. When there is removed, from St Mark’s Gospel for instance, the historical, local, and circumstantial frame- work of our Lord’s words, together with the Evangelist’s personal remarks concerning them, and the general setting in which he has placed them, there remain as actual words of the Lord, even making allowance for some which, though not actually recorded are yet implied in the narrative, hardly any more, roughly 8 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST speaking, than 5500. In St Matthew’s Gospel, or in St Luke’s, they would be more, and in St John’s Gospel rather more in number still. But even if those in St Mark were added to those in St John, the number of actual “sayings” could then hardly be described as large. The total number of words in one of those wonderful sermons which the late Canon Liddon so often delivered at St Paul’s Cathedral, amounted to about 5000; and the total number of words in the 7%mes leading articles, which are generally three in number, amount every day to about 4000 in all: that is to say—in two of Liddon’s sermons, or in the leading articles of three numbers of the Times, we have many more words than Christ has left to us for the direction of all men, in all lands, in all times, as regards faith, and practice, and morality, and ethics, and philosophy, and eternal truth. When we con- trast with this the enormous length of many a modern biography of some one high in Church or state, we are indeed constrained to confess that our poverty is great: and we are confronted with the reminder that the Great Master wrote no book, but left His Kingdom to be extended by the living voice of His followers, and by the lives they led and by the testimony they should bear to the cardinal events in the wondrous Life of which they had been witnesses, strengthened by the help of the Spirit who had so richly been given them. But although we might thus not be surprised if many INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 9 “sayings” did survive which are not recorded in the Gospels, when we come to take account of those which do exist we can but be struck by the fewness of them. Τὸ is doubtful if all the supposed “sayings” would number 150, and from these many would have to be eliminated by the cautious commentator as extremely doubtful. So few in number are those which may safely be accepted compared with what we might have expected, that we are forcibly driven back on the con- clusion, that the influence exercised by the Canonical Gospels must have been most marked, and that so much importance was attached to the authority by which they were backed, that all the “sayings” not included in those Gospels became as a matter of course of secondary importance, and were in many cases apparently forgotten. Of those we have, stray ones occur here and there in the writings of some Greek or Latin Father, or in some other writing of early date, or in some ancient Liturgy: or it may be some of the “sayings” have been unfolded to us by the discovery of some fragment of ancient papyrus like that recently discovered at Oxyrhynchus, whereby eight more or less new sayings, dating probably in origin from the first or very early in the second century, were suddenly flung on an astonished world. The day may come when the spade of the excavator in Egypt, or the trained eye of the searcher after ancient 10 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST MSS. there and elsewhere, may give us more, as it is expected they will do. Till then, it behoves us to regard with full interest those we already have. There is need to avoid the mistake of thinking that these “sayings” are chiefly taken from the so-called Apocryphal Gospels which date from the second century onwards. It is quite true that some of the “sayings ” come from the “Gospel according to the Hebrews,” and from the “Ebionite Gospel,’ and from the “Gospel according to the Egyptians.” But it has often been pointed out that these Gospels, though ranked among the Apocryphal Gospels, can hardly be described as being put in the same category as the others, but stand out from them in marked excellence. The narratives in these are either based to some extent on the same oral traditions as the Canonical Gospels, or are variants of the Canonical text. Light- foot calls the “Gospel according to the Hebrews” one of the earliest and most respectable of the Apocryphal narratives. The “Ebionite Gospel” also follows to some extent the outline of the Canonical Gospels, and some of the “sayings” are taken from it; while the ‘Gospel according to the Egyptians” gives us one long conversation which our Lord is reported to have had with Salome. There is, however, the second class, as we might term it, of Apocryphal Gospels. In this class may INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 11 be included the Gospels of the Infancy (Gospel of James, Gospel of Thomas, and the Pseudo-Matthew) and the Gospel of Nicodemus, which relates to the Passion of the Lord. This strange class of Christian writings contains little of real value. The stories we find in them, the exagger- ated importance set on the miraculous and on every form of mere wonder-working, so different from the calm, majestic, and beneficent miracles which the Four Canonical Gospels record, and the imaginative elabora- tion of incidents which in the Canonical Gospels receive only brief notice, dispose us at once to be cautious in accepting anything from them. It is not from this class of writings, or from writings similar to them that “the sayings ” come. Nor must a “saying” presumably “of our Lord,” which is mentioned in a writing of somewhat later date, be summarily rejected in consequence of the late date of the writing in which it occurs. Just as in the study of MSS. of the New Testament, a “various reading” which is found solely in a late MS., may be regarded with great suspicion but not entirely ignored, inasmuch as the late MS. may be repeating a reading that originally came from some much earlier MS. now lost and unknown to us, and may thus be doing the service of bridging over the time to a remote but reliable past. So “a saying” that claims to be of Christ, and which 12 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST is only found in some late writing say of the fifth or sixth century, while it may reasonably be regarded with considerable suspicion, since it lacks the support which mention in an earlier writing would have conferred upon it, still need not be entirely and summarily ignored, inasmuch as the late writing may be quoting from a much earlier writing—now lost to us and unknown— and so may be bridging over the time to almost Apostolic days, when “the saying” was commonly accepted as being “of Christ.” Throughout these pages preference has been given to the ‘‘sayings” which come to us, introduced by the words “ Christ says, or said,” or “The Prophet of Truth said,” or some similar introductory statement—such preface to a “saying ” at least commands respect, and the “ saying ” prefaced by such a statement, must undoubtedly be very carefully considered before it be rejected. “Sayings” that rest on less strong and weighty authority have been placed at the end of the book. Any one conversant with the Gospels will have noticed the “parallelism” in which our Lord often spoke—His sayings there frequently take the form of “a statement followed by a complementary statement (often couched in a negative form),” the two statements together forming the actual “‘saying.” As an instance we may quote our Lord’s teaching with regard to the acknowledgment by men of Himself: “Every one therefore who shall confess Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 13 which is in heaven.” This is the statement. Then follows the complementary statement,“ But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.” The two statements together form the actual “saying.” The constant use of this double statement may be traced to Hebrew poetry, which was apparently written with the view that a statement made by one side of the choir, should be answered by a parallel statement by the other side of the choir. It is well exemplified in the 136th Psalm, where in response to statements made by the one side as to the duty of praising God and remembering His great doings in Jewish history, the other side replies in every case, “For His mercy endureth for ever.” The statement in the one case may be purely partial, as, e.g., ‘The sun to rule by day” ; but even to this the other side responds, “ For His mercy endureth for ever.” Other verses might be mentioned :— “Sihon king of the Amorites, For His mercy endureth for ever ; And Og king of Bashan, For His mercy endureth for ever.” The same parallelism is apparent in the “ Benedicite,” where to the opening verse and to all the others comes a continuous response :— “0 all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord :” Praise and exalt Him above all for ever.” “Ὁ ye heavens, bless ye the Lord :” Praise and exalt Him above all for ever” — and so on. 14 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST Many sayings uttered by our Lord will at once suggest themselves as instancing this double statement or parallelism—*“ A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” And again— “Into whatever city ye enter and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: and heal the sick that are therein and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” Then follows the complementary part— “But into whatsoever city ye shall enter and they receive you not, go out into the streets thereof and say, Even the dust from your city that cleaveth to our feet, we do wipe off against you: howbeit know this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh.” It may be at times that this characteristic of our Lord’s sayings comes out in a sentence of a very few words, which yet convey a distinct and supplemental meaning, 6.6., St John makes our Lord say, “I am the light of the World: he that followeth Me shall not walk in the darkness.” This is the statement: the complementary statement—not, this time, in a nega- tive form—is very short, “but shall have the light of life.” The same thing occurs in the saying, “If therefore thy whole body be full of light ”—this is the statement : the complementary statement is,short, but adds a distinct thought, “having no part dark”—then, as a INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 15 result of these combined statements it will be that “it shall be wholly full of light.” And again, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth on Me though he die yet shall he live.” Here is the statement—the complement immediately follows, “and whosoever liveth and believeth on Me, shall (not only live, but shall) never die.” Many more instances might be cited. Since this is so, when we find a new and hitherto possibly unknown statement which is supposed to be an utterance of Christ, and which seems to be the other half of some statement which we already know, we are inclined, bearing in mind this characteristic parallelism of our Lord’s speech, to accept the new statement as in some form the complement of the statement we are already familiar with, and to count both together as forming the original “‘saying” as it came from the Lord. One instance of what is meant will suffice. We know the statement, “It must needs be that the occasions (of stumbling) come: but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh” ; but when we find among the statements not in the Gospels but yet ascribed to the Lord the words, “Tt must needs be that good deeds come, and blessed is he by whom they come,” we are at once inclined to regard it as the complementary statement of that which we knew before, and to group both together as con- 16 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST stituting one “saying,” framed in the parallelism in which it seems our Lord so often spoke. Too much reliance must not, of course, be placed on this in the process we put before ourselves of weighing these new utterances which are collected together in these pages; but we shall at least do well to remember this fact of parallelism, and to give to it all the con- sideration that is due. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS THERE survive fragments of this heretical Gospel, so commonly mentioned in early Christian writers, but the book as a whole (for the present) is lost ; and what, in full, it originally contained, we cannot tell. The Gospel would certainly seem to have been framed on the model of our Four Canonical Gospels, and yet to have differed from them. It preserved doubtless much that was original, and even in one or two of the frag- ments we have, may give an older text than that of our present Gospels. Probably, as the name implies, it was a Gospel used by the Christians of Palestine and Syria —just as, we gather, the “Gospel according to the Egyptians” was used by the Christians of the neigh- bourhood of Egypt: and it had, we may presume, some bearings towards the teaching of the Judaising sects. It is mentioned by Clement and Origen, and classed by Eusebius with the “Epistle of Barnabas” and the ‘Shepherd of Hermas,” both books highly esteemed in the Early Church. Jerome also translated it into Greek and Latin. Some even considered it to be the Hebrew original of our St Matthew. It would appear likely that its use was most common before the time when our Four Canonical Gospels came to be universally B 17 18 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST acknowledged as presenting the authoritative tradition. Gospels that bore the names of St Matthew or St John, or even of St Mark and St Luke would pro- bably oust all others from the field in due course of time. The “Gospel according to the Hebrews” probably underwent alteration in the second and third centuries ; and in the form that Jerome, and Epiphanius, and even Origen knew it, it must already have been much tampered with by Jewish, Christian, and Gnostic sects. Some of the fragments seem distinctly to present a later tone of thought than our Gospels do. The original would seem to have been written in Aramaic, and was possibly nearly related to the “Oracles of the Lord” which formed the basis of our St Matthew. “ BEHOLD the mother of the Lord, and His brethren said to Him—John Baptist baptizes for the remission of sins: let us go and be baptized by him. But He said to them, What have I sinned that I should go and be baptized by him, unless perhaps this very thing that I said, is (a sin of ) ignorance ?” The passage is quoted by Jerome.! It may have been that it was to the persuasion of His mother that our Lord yielded, for in “ the Preaching of Paul” attached to the works of Cyprian, we read: “T Jesus] was compelled by His mother (Mary) almost against His will to receive the baptism of John.” 5 The Gospel shortly after continues: “ When the Lord went up out of the water, the whole fountain of the Holy Spirit descended, and rested upon Him and said to Him, My Son, I looked for Thee in all the prophets that Thou mightest come and that I might rest in Thee. For Thou art My rest, Thou art My first begotten Son who shall reign for ever and ever.” 1Jerome, contr. Pelag. iii, 2. Ecce mater domini et fratres eius dicebant ei: Ioannes baptista baptizat in remissionem peccatorum : eamus et baptizemur ab eo. Dixit autem eis, quid peccavi, ut vadam et baptizer ab eo? nisi forte hoc ipsum quod dixi ignorantia est. 3 Tract. de baptismate (Pauli predicatio) c. 17, Opp. Cyprian iii. 90. (Jesum] ad accipiendum Joannis baptisma pene invitum a matre sua esse compulsum. 19 20 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST This passage also is quoted by Jerome,! and would appear to be strongly tinged with Ebionitism. Some of these early heretical sects regarded the baptism of our Lord as a most important event in the life of our Lord: before His baptism they held that He was mere man, but at the baptism supernatural aid was for the first time bestowed upon Him, by which He became the promised Messiah. Certainly it would seem that prophetic gnosis has been at work and has brought the passage in touch with Old Testament Scriptures. We may notice that the account is in accord with prophecy in Isaiah. “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.” ? “His resting place shall be glorious.”* “And I will make My judgment to rest for a light of the peoples.” 4 “What place shall be My rest ?” ὅ St Peter also seems to give utterance to a similar thought—“ If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye: because the Spirit of Glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you.”® St Luke’s words, «ἐς And Jesus advanced in wisdom,”” must be however remembered. 1 Jerome in Is. iv. 11. 2. Factum est autem, quum ascendisset dominus de aqua, descendit fons omnis spiritus sancti et requievit super eum, et dixit illi: fili mi in omnibus prophetis expectabam te, ut venires et requiescerem in te. Tu es enim requies mea, tu es filius meus primo-genitus qui regnas in sempiternum. 2 Js, xi.2. 31s, xi. 10. 4 Is, li. 4. 515, xvi. 1. 61 Pet. iv. 14, 7 Luke ii. 52. =m a ae GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS 21 With regard to the phrase “Who shall reign for ever,” we may compare St Luke’s words, “ And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever.” * There would seem to be really nothing remarkable in our Lord stating that He was different from the multitude who were seeking John’s baptism. He was, it is true, “made sin for us,” but the reason that neces- sitated their being baptized could not apply to Him. The whole passage, however, can only be received with caution, but the reasons for peremptorily rejecting it do not seem strong. “ The Saviour Himself says, Just now the Holy Spirit My mother took Me by one of My hairs, and bore Me away to the great mountain Tabor.” This strange saying is quoted by Origen,* and is mentioned by Jerome* as belonging to this Gospel. It may be regarded as genuine. It is apparently of Hebrew origin, for in that language spirit is, as is mentioned here, feminine. It may be, of course, that the words “ My mother,” and “by one of the hairs of My head,” are Gnostic 1 Luke i. 33. * Origen in Joann. ii. 6. ἄρτι ἔλαβέ με ἡ μήτηρ μου τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ἐν μιᾷ τῶν τριχῶν μου καὶ ἀπήνεγκέ με εἰς τὸ ὄρος τὸ μέγα Ταβώρ. 5 Jerome in Mich. vii. 6. Qui. . . crediderit evangelio, quod secundum Hebraeos editum nuper transtulimus, in quo ex persona salvatoris dicitur: Modo tulit me mater mea spiritus sanctus in uno capillorum meorum. 22 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST interpolations, but Jerome and Origen both speak approvingly of the passage on the whole. We know that our Lord was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, and the story related here may have some connection with the Temptation, though this seems very doubtful. There are other passages which show that this verse is not really so fanciful as at first sight it might seem. In Ezekiel we have, “And He (2:6. the Lord God) put forth the form of a hand and took me by a lock of mine head: and the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem.” ἢ We find, too, in the story of “ Bel and the Dragon” the following with regard to Habakkuk: ‘Then the Angel of the Lord took him by the crown and lifted him up by the hair of his head, and with the blast of his breath set him in Babylon.” ? The same idea is presented in the story of Elijah, “And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither [knownot.”® It occurs again with reference to Elisha, “ Let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master : lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” * It will be recalled, too, how Philip was removed from the roadway between Jerusalem and Gaza far away to 1 Ezek. viii. 3. 2 Bel and Ὁ. 36. 3] Kings xviii. 12, 42 Kings ii. 16. GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS 23 Azotus. ‘‘ The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip. . . - But Philip was found at Azotus.”? It may be that these various passages have not been without effect upon the story as it stands here. It is rather curious than edifying, but it seems to have considerable support. “Tf thy brother has sinned, He saith, in word, and has made satisfaction to thee, seven times in a day receive him. Simon, His disciple, said to Him, Seven times ina day? The Lord answered and said to him, I say to thee, Even unto seventy times seven. For in the prophets likewise, after they were anointed with the Holy Spirit, utterance of sin was found.” The last part of this saying is very obscure. The first part, save for the limitation “in word,” seems to be a repetition of Luke xvii. 3, 4. The saying cannot be regarded as weighty, and must be considered doubtful.* We find quoted in the Gospel according to the Hebrews another version of our Lord’s conversation 1 Acts viii. 39, 40. 2 Jerome ad Pelag. iii. 2. Si peccaverit, inquit, frater tuus in verbo et satis tibi fecerit, septies in die suscipe eum. Dixit illi Simon, dis- cipulus eius, ‘‘ Septies in die?” respondit Dominus et dixit ei Etiam ego dico tibi, usque septuagies septies. Etenim in prophetis quoque, postquam uncti sunt spiritu sancto, inventus est sermo peccati. 24 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST with “the rich man” in St Matthew.! The narrative, as given by Origen, is peculiarly striking, and it seems possible that it may be the original account. St Matthew’s account, which differs from it, would appear to be derived from ¢t, rather than ἠὲ from St Matthew. In the story, there were apparently two rich men. The one addresses our Lord as “Good Master,” and receives in reply the answer, “Do not call Me good—One is good, My Father which is in heaven.” The narrative then goes on,” “ The other of the rich men said to Him, Master, what good thing shall I do, and live? He said to him, O man, perform the law and the prophets. He answered Him, I have performed them. He said to him, Go, sell all things which thou possessest and give to the poor and come follow Me. But the rich man began to scratch his head, and (the thing) did not please him. “And the Lord said to him, How sayest thou, I have 1 Matt. xix. 16. 2 Origen in Matt. xv. 14. Dixit, inquit, ad eum alter divitum; Magister, quid bonum faciens vivam? Dixit ei: Homo, leges ac pro- phetas fac. Respondit ad eum Feci. Dixit ei Vade, vende omnia quae possides et divide pauperibus et veni, sequere me. Ccpit autem dives scalpere caput suum et non placuit ei. Et dixit ad eum Domi- nus ; Quomodo dicis ; legem feci et prophetas? Quoniam scriptum est in lege ; diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum, et ecce multi fratres tui, filii ALrahe, amicti sunt stercore, morientes prae fame, et domus tua plena est multis bonis, et non egreditur omnino aliquid ex ea ad eos. Et conversus dixit Simoni discipulo suo sedenti apud se ; Simon fili Joanne, facilius est camelum intrare per foramen acus, quam divitem in regnum celorum. σαν GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS 25 performed the law and the prophets? since it is written in the law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, and behold many brethren of thine, sons of Abraham, are covered with filth and dying of hunger, and thy house 4s full of many good things, and nothing at any tume goes out from it to them. “ And turning about, He said to Simon, His disciple, sitting near him, Simon, son of John, it is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich man (to enter) into the kingdom of heaven.” The above account seems more consonant with facts, than that of St Matthew, which makes the rich man, who was a Jew, ask what appears to be the unlikely question, what commandments he was to keep. More- over, the touch, “‘began to scratch his head,” is hardly likely to have been added unless it was according to the exact truth. St Peter sitting by our Lord is also very natural. In schools at the present day in Eastern lands the ancient custom survives of scholars sitting round their teacher. The rebuke, too, in St Matthew’s account seems to fall very heavily ; in the above account it is much softened by being spoken to St Peter, who hears as an intermediary the faults which rich men so often showed. The mention of “‘sons and daughters of Abraham ” is common in St Luke, who makes our Lord use the phrase in conversation with Zaccheus! and with the 1 Luke xix. 9. 26 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST woman who had a spirit of infirmity! The general sequence of events in the above quotation would seem to be extremely natural. “ Now, our Lord, when He had given the cloth to the servant of the priest, went to James and appeared to him. For James had sworn that he would not eat bread From that hour in which he had drunk the cup of the Lord (or, “in which the Lord had drunk the cup,” 2.6. at the dying on the cross) wntil he should see Him risen again from the dead. Again, a little after, He took bread and blessed and brake, and afterwards gave it to James the Just, and said, My brother, eat thy bread, because the Son of Man has risen from them that sleep.” The passage is quoted by Jerome.” Each of the Synoptic Evangelists makes mention of “the cloth in which our Lord’s body was wrapped,” ὃ and further, they mention the presence of “the servant 1 Luke xiii. 16. 2 Jerome, de Viris illustr. ii. Dominus autem cum dedisset sindonem servo sacerdotis, ivitad Jacobum et apparuitei. Juraverat enim Jaco- bus se non comesturum panem ab illa hora, qua biberat calicem Domini (vetus interpretatio—d@’ ἧς πεπώκει τὸ ποτήριον ὁ Κύριος), donec videret eum resurgentem a dormientibus (mortuis). Rursusque post paululum _ Afferte, ait Dominus, mensam et panem. Statimque additur: Tulit panem et benedixit ac fregit, et dedit Jacobo Justo et dixit ei: Frater mi, comede panem tuum, quia resurrexit filius hominis ἃ dormientibus, 3 Matt, xxvii, 59 ; Mark xv, 46; Luke xxiii, 53, GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS 27 of the high priest.” St John records that his name was Malchus.” It may, therefore, be that “the servant” mentioned in this passage was the same as “the servant of the high priest” mentioned in the Gospels. Hegesippus remarks that James was named by all men “the Just,” from the times of our Lord even to the day when he wrote.* The vow registered by St James may have been sug- gested by our Lord’s words, quoted by St Matthew, “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”* The vow re- corded by the Forty Jews that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul, may be compared.°® With regard to the genuineness of the saying, it may be remarked, that it is rejected as apocryphal by some writers on the subject. On the other hand it must be noticed, that St Paul mentions an appearance to St James, but not in the historical order suggested by the above passage.® It seems unlikely that the tradition recorded by Jerome has no other foundation than the bare mention by St Paul ; and if, as has been thought by some, St James was the unnamed companion of Cleopas, on the walk to Emmaus, the passage would 1 Matt. xxvi. 51 ; Mark xiv. 47; Luke xxii. 50. 2 John xviii. 10. 3 Quoted by Euseb. Hist. Ece. ii. 23. 4 Matt. xxvi. 29. 5 Acts xxiii. 12, 61 Cor, xv. 7, 28 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST well fit in with “the breaking of bread” by which the unknown companion of Cleopas, and Cleopas himself, recognised our Lord in His appearance to them. The whole incident is quoted in Pseudo-Abdias,' and also in Gregory of Tours,? and Jacobus de Voragine.® “ And when (the Lord) came to those about Peter, He said to them, Take, handle Me and see that I am not a disembodied spirit. And straightway they touched Him and believed, being convinced by His flesh and by His blood.” The saying is quoted by Ignatius,* and is also given by Jerome.® The account would seem to be much like the appear- ance to the Twelve, recorded by St Luke, when His words are, “See My hands and My feet that it is I My- self: handle Me and see: for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye behold Me having.”® The Apostles’ terror when they saw our Lord walking on the sea, in the days of the ministry, may be compared.’ The saying cannot be regarded as important. 1 Pseudo-Abdias, Hist. Ap. vi. 1. 2 Gregory Turon, Hist. France. i. 21. ® Jacob. de Voragine, Legenda a. 67. 4 Ignat. ad Smyrn. iii. 1, 2. καὶ ὅτε πρὸς τοὺς περὶ Πέτρον ἦλθεν ἔφη αὐτοῖς Λάβετε, ψΨηλαφήσατέ με, καὶ Were ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ δαιμόνιον ἀσώματον. καὶ εὐθὺς αὐτοῦ ἥψαντο καὶ ἐπίστευσαν κρατηθέντες τῇ σαρκὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῷ αἵματι. 5 Jerome, de Viris illustr. c. 16. 6 Luke xxiv. 39, 7 Matt. xiv. 26; Mark vi. 49. αν mes cy GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS 29 “In the Hebrew Gospel we find our Lord saying to His disciples, And never, He says, be ye joyful, save when you shall have looked on your brother in love.” This saying is quoted by Jerome, who also in an- other place mentions as pertaining to the Gospel according to the Hebrews, “ He is set down among the greatest criminals who hath grieved the spirit of his brother.” * Some would place these sayings with St Matthew's words, “Woe unto the world because of occasions of stumbling! For it must needs be that the occasions come ; but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh.”* Others would place the sayings with another paragraph in St Matthew, which treats of the duty of not using strong language to the brethren and of the need of speedy reconciliation. Should this be so, the passage would run, “I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire. [And never be ye joyful save when 1 Jerome in Ephes. v. 4. Ut in hebraico quoque evangelio legimus Dominum ad discipulos loquentem Et nunquam, inquit, leti sitis, nisi quum fratrem vestrum videritis in caritate. 2 Jerome in Ez. xviii.7. In evangelio quod juxta Hebreos Nazarzi legere consueverunt, inter maxima ponitur crimina qui fratris sui spiritum contristaverit. 3 Matt. xviii. 7. 30 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST you shall have looked on your brother in love.|] If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. [For he is set down among the greatest criminals who hath grieved the spirit of his brother.]” + It may be on the other hand that “the greatest of criminals ” saying is a summary or an alternative render- ing of what we already have in St Matthew. The first saying (and possibly the second) may be considered genuine. The cause of the divisions of souls that is coming to pass in houses (Christ) Himself teaches, as we have found in a place in the Gospel existing among the Jews in the Hebrew language, in which it is said, “ J will choose to Myself the good, those good whom My Father in the heavens hath given Me.” The saying is quoted by Eusebius—the text is that approved by Hilgenfeld on the authority of Merx.? 1 Matt. v. 22. 2 Euseb. Theoph. (Lee’s Syriac edition) iv. 18. Causam autem separationum animarum que domibus eveniet, docet, quemadmodum in uno loco reperimus, in evangelio Iudzorum in loco hebraico, ubi inquit, Eligam mihi bonos, illos bonos quos pater meus ccelestis (in cclis) dedit. GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS 31 ‘The sayimg would seem to convey the same idea as St Matthew's werse, “Neither doth any know ithe _ Father save the Son, and he to whomsocever the Son 5 Willeth to reveal Hom? St John too has similar sayings, _ “All that which the Father giveth Me, shall come un- to Με and “I pray not for the world, but for those _ Whom Thou hast given Me,”* and azam, “Ye did not ᾿ς @hoose Me, but I chose you.” * "The saying appears to be genuine. * Look with wonder at that whach os before you.” “Tis saying is quoted by Clement of Alexandria* as Coming from the Traditions of Matthias. Clement then goss on to meniion another say- ἄπ “winch is mm ithe Gospel accordmg io the “Hebrews °"— “ He that hath marvelled shall revgn and he that hath — mengned sivalll rest.” _ it seems probable that the sayimgs may be combined wad taken as words of the Lord. | “wonder is the first step towards knowledge ”—Our 8 Mint, τ Ζῇ. 5 John wi. BT. 3 Sobn xvii. 9. * John xv. "8. ® Olem. Alex. Strom. Gi. 2, 45. @nijuaoor πὰ παρόντα. «© Sirom. GH. Ὁ, 45. (ἢ κἂν τῷ καθ᾽ BApians εὐπκιγγεκίῳ) ᾧ θαυμάσας ; ᾿ βαιλαίσει, “γέγμαπτται. «aol ᾧ ξασδιεῦσαε ἀναπεαυθήσεται. 32 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST Lord therefore would seem to mean that His followers might indeed justifiably wonder at the marvellous works which day by day were being done before their eyes. He Himself had borne witness that the blind were receiving sight, and the lame walking: the lepers were being cleansed, and the deaf hearing, and the dead being raised up. He who should be moved to believe on Him for the very works’ sake, would already have set forth on the road that led to knowledge: and by understanding that He was One with the Father, would have begun, even though it was through suffering, to reign, and so to find rest for his soul. Another interesting sentence is quoted from the Traditions of Matthias in the writings of Clement of Alexandria, “they say that Matthias used thus to teach—to fight with the flesh and overcome it: not giving in to it at all with a view to undisciplined pleasure, but to increase the soul through faith and knowledge.” It is doubtful if this can be regarded as clearly a saying of Christ, though it has much that suggests acceptance. The words quoted by St Peter, “ Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,” ® may be compared with it. The four following extracts from “ the Gospel accord- 1 Clem. Alex. Strom. iii. 4, 26. λέγουσι γοῦν (Gnostici) καὶ τὸν Ματθίαν οὕτως διδάξαι, σαρκὶ μὲν μάχεσθαι καὶ παραχρῆσθαι, μηδὲν αὐτῇ πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἀκόλαστον ἐνδιδόντα. ψυχὴν δὲ αὔξειν διὰ πίστεως καὶ γνώσεως. 2 1 Pet. ii. 10, GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS 33 ing to the Hebrews,” cannot be described exactly as “sayings.” They are, however, added because of the interest attaching to them. (1) With regard to St Matthew’s parable of “the talents,”1 Eusebius has preserved for us, in the “Theophania,”? the following:—“ The Gospel which comes to us in Hebrew characters has directed the threat, not against him who hid (the talent), but against the abandoned liver. For it included three slaves—one, which devoured his substance with harlots and flute women—and one, which multiplied greatly (his talent)—and one, who hid his talent. Then one was ac- cepted: one was only blamed: and one shut up in prison.” (2) The man who had a withered hand prayed for help, “J was a mason seeking food by my hands. I pray Thee Jesus that Thou restore to me my health that I do not disgracefully beg for food.” The incident would seem to add interesting details to the record which we already know, and is quoted by Jerome.® 1 Matt. xxv. 14-30. 2 Euseb. Theophania (Migne iv. 155). τὸ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἧκον Ἑ βραικοῖς χαρακτῆρσινε εὐαγγέλιον τὴν ἀπειλὴν οὐ κατὰ τοῦ ἀποκρύψαντος ἐπῆγεν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τοῦ ἀσώτως ἑζηκότοο ---- τρεῖς yap δούλους περιεῖχε, τὸν μὲν καταφαγόντα τὴν ὕπαρξιν τοῦ δεσπότου μετὰ πορνῶν καὶ αὐλητρίδων, τὸν δὲ πολλαπλασιάσαντα τὴν ἐργασίαν, τὸν δὲ κατακρύψαντα τὸ τάλαντον. εἶτα τὸν μὲν ἀποδεχθῆναι, τὸν δὲ μεμφθῆναι μόνον, τὸν δὲ συγκλεισθῆναι δεσμωτηρίῳ. 3 Jerome ad Matt. xii. 17. Homo iste, qui aridam habet manum, caementarius scribitur istiusmodi vocibus auxilium precans Caemen- tarius eram manibus victum quaeritans: Precor te, Jesu, ut mihi restituas sanitatem ne turpiter mendicem cibos. Cc 34 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST The man’s desire to begin once again to earn his daily bread must be regarded as natural and praise- worthy. He apparently dreads to belong to the large company of beggars degraded and forlorn, of which we read in our Lord’s time, and which are common to this day in Eastern lands, and whose condition strikes travellers as being so peculiarly pitiable. | (3) “The lintel of the Temple of vast size was shattered.” The event, according to Jerome,’ occurred at the time of the Crucifixion. He seems to put this occurrence in place of the rending of the veil which the Evangelists relate, and speaks in another place of the stone as broken and smashed.? Probably the dislodg- ment may have been caused by the earthquake shock. (4) “The woman accused before our Lord of many sins.” This is all we know of the story —there is mention of it, but the story itself is not known. Eusebius mentions it as being in the Gospel according to the Hebrews.® It is probably the same story which we find in St John’s eighth chapter, and which is placed in brackets in the Revised Version. Most of the ancient authorities 1 Jerome ad Hedib. viii. 1. In evangelio autem, quod Hebraicis literis scriptum est, legimus non velum templi scissum, sed super- liminare templi mirae magnitudinis corruisse. 2 In Matt. xxvii. 51. 3 Euseb. H. ΤΠ. iii. 89, 17. ἐκτέθειται (Papias) δὲ καὶ ἄλλην ἱστορίαν περὶ γυναικὸς ἐπὶ πολλαῖς ἁμαρτίαις διαβληθείσης ἐπὶ τοῦ κυρίου, ἣν τὸ καθ᾽ Ἑβραίους εὐαγγέλιον περιέχει. GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE HEBREWS 35 regard the story in St John’s eighth chapter as not forming part of the true text. Some, however, consider that this story mentioned in the Gospel according to the Hebrews cannot be the same as the story which finds a place in St John’s Gospel, inasmuch as the woman mentioned in the latter was only accused of one sin, while here she is spoken of as being accused of many sins. The objection does not seem weighty, and on the whole it would appear probable that the story mentioned here is the same as that which we find in St John. THE EBIONITE GOSPEL LITTLE is known about this Gospel, and Epiphanius is the only writer who has preserved fragments of it for our notice. Apparently the Gospel was written with the purpose of advancing Ebionite doctrine. It was written possibly in Hebrew, possibly how- ever in Greek, and began with the account of the baptism. It was sometimes known as the “ Gospel of the Twelve,” and in form appears to have been like our Gospels. The date at which it was written is not likely to be early, and some have placed it in the third century. Passages which seemed important in this Gospel have ‘ alone been entered here, those which appeared to be simple variants of the Canonical Gospel passages, and to convey no special teaching, being omitted. Tue following account of the baptism of our Lord occurs in the Ebionite Gospel and is given to us by Epiphanius.? '“ When the people were baptised, Jesus also came and was baptised by John. And as He went up from the water the heavens were opened, and He saw the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descending and entering in to Him: and a voice came out of heaven, saying— Thou art My beloved (Son), in Thee I am well pleased : and again, This day have I begotten Thee. “ And straightway a great light shone round about the place. And John when he saw it, says to Him, Who art Thou, Lord? And again a voice (came) from heaven 1 Epiph. Her. xxx. 13. καὶ μετὰ τὸ εἰπεῖν πολλὰ ἐπιφέρει ὅτι" τοῦ λαοῦ βαπτισθέντος ἦλθε καὶ Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη ὑπὸ τοῦ ᾿Ιωάννου. καὶ ὡς ᾿ἀνῆλθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος, ἤνοΐίγησαν οἱ οὐρανοὶ καὶ εἶδεν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς κατελθούσης καὶ εἰσελθούσης εἰς αὐτόν" καὶ φωνὴ ἐγένετο ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῖ λέγουσα “Σύ μου εἶ ὁ ἀγαπητός ἐν σὸι ηὐδόκησα"" Καὶ πάλιν ““᾿ Ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά ce.” καὶ εὐθὺς περιέλαμψε τὸν τόπον φῶς μέγα. ἂν iar, φησίν, ὁ Ἰῳάῤνης λέγει αὐτῷ Σὸ rls εἶ, xbpe; καὶ πάλιν φωνὴ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ πρὸς αὐτόν Οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός ἐφ᾽ ὃν ηὐδόκησα καὶ τότε, φησίν, ὁ ᾿ΙτΣωοάννης προσπέσων αὐτῷ ἔλεγε Δέομαί σου, κύριε, σύ με βάπτισον. ὁ δὲ ἐκώλυσεν αὐτὸν λέγων. “Ages ὅτι οὕτωςέστὶ πρέπον πληρωθῆναι πάντα. 87 38 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST to him (John), This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. “And then John fell down before Him and said, I beseech Thee, Lord, baptise me. But He forbade him, saying, Let be, for thus it is fitting that all things should be fulfilled.” It should be noted that Justin and Hilary and Cle- ment of Alexandria quote the words, “This day have I begotten Thee,” as being used at the baptism.1_ Many other writers confirm this, and it is supported as a reading in Luke iii. 22 by Codex Bezex (D), and in the “ Old Latin.” Apparently the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews knew of the phrase in connection with the baptism, for he quotes “Thou art My Son. This day have I begotton Thee,” in two places.2 With regard to the mention of the Holy Spirit “entering into our Lord,” it may be noticed that in Westcott and Hort’s Greek Testament the reading inserted in St Mark i. 10 is the Greek word for “into.” ? The Codex Vercellensis con- firms the story of the light—“ When Jesus was being baptised a huge light shone round from the water, so that all they who had come thither were afraid” +—and the Codex Sangermanensis (61) has much the same: “ And 1 Justin. Dial. Tryph. c. 108; Clem. Alex. Feed. i. 6, 25; Hilar. de Trin. 11, 18. 2 Heb. i. 5 and v. 5. 8 καταβαῖνον els αὐτόν. 4 Tischendorf, VN. 7, Ed. viii. p. 11: et cum baptizaretur, lumen ingens circumfulsit de aqua, ita ut timerent omnes qui advenerant. THE EBIONITE GOSPEL 39 when Jesus was being baptised, a great light kept gleaming from the water, so that all were afraid, who were gathered together.”! Justin also notices that when Jesus went down to the water, a fire was kindled. There would seem therefore to be authority for the details which this Ebionite passage furnishes. Τὸ may also be noticed that St Matthew’s account of the baptism makes John know our Lord at once and endeavour to restrain Him from letting the Baptist baptise Him, while at the same time asking for baptism himself at the hands of Christ. In St John’s Gospel on the other hand we find that John “knew Him not,” and only arrived at knowing Him (7.e. our Lord) by seeing on whom the Holy Spirit, as a dove, deseended. It may be that the account given in this Ebionite Gospel solves the difficulty, and the events are as follows :— John Baptist does not (as the Gospel according to St John points out) know our Lord—he sees the light shining round and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descending, and hears the voice, and in conse- quence knows our Lord and asks our Lord to baptise The apparent disagreement between St Matthew and St John is difficult to fully explain—all we can safely say is, that St John’s account and the above account 1 Et cum baptizaretur Jesus, lumen magnum fulgebat de aqua ita ut timerent omnes qui congregati erant. 40 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST from the Ebionite Gospel seem more or less to agree: and this cannot be said of St Matthew’s account and the account from the Ebionite Gospel. “ T came to put an end to sacrifices : and unless ye cease Srom sacrificing, wrath (God's) shall not cease from you.” This saying is quoted by Epiphanius, as in the Ebionite Gospel.1 It is apparently adapted to suit Ebionite teaching, and it is doubtful if it can be regarded as genuine, though we have somewhat similar teaching given by our Lord in St Matthew’s Gospel—“I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”? Isaiah has a similar passage, “He that offereth an oblation (is) as he that offereth swine’s blood ” ’—and in the book of Ecclesiasticus we find—‘ Say not He will look upon the multitude of my gifts, and when I offer to the Most High He will accept it.” 4 Nicholson would place the saying in connection with our Lord’s words about “the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” If so, it would follow as a somewhat severe comment the verse, “Nay but except ye repent ye shall all in like manner perish.”® 1Epiph. Her, xxx. 16. ἦλθον καταλῦσαι τὰς θυσίας, καὶ ἐὰν μὴ παύσησθε τοῦ θύειν οὐ παύσεται ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν ἡ ὀργή. 2 Matt. ix. 18. 31s, lxvi. 3. 4Ecclus. vii 9. δ Luke xiii. 3. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE EGYPTIANS Tus Gospel, probably the earliest Gnostic Gospel, was written possibly about the middle of the second century. It appears to have been connected with Egypt, and was used by the Encratites, Naasenes, and Sabellians. Epiphanius speaks of it as containing esoteric utter- ances of Christ to His Apostles. The book probably never had an author’s name attached to it. The title can hardly be without some relation to the “Gospel according to the Hebrews,” which also probably was connected with Egypt, and bore no author's name. Both these Gospels probably were in use in Egypt, at a time before the Canonical Gospels which we possess obtained full and complete authority. Gospels which bore Apostolic names were likely eventually to cause other Gospels to give way to them. Apparently it was used by the Egyptian Encratites, who began by being a school within the Church ; by the author of the (so-called) “Second Epistle of Clement” ; by Clement of Alexandria, who seems to have regarded it as trust- worthy. 41 42 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST Only one “saying,” and this Encratite in its teaching, is given as coming directly from this Gospel; but it is at least possible that the “sayings” which are quoted as from the Second Epistle of Clement, may in reality be from this Gospel. CLEMENT of Alexandria gives, in various forms, a con- versation which took place between our Lord and Salome. It bears a striking likeness to the saying quoted by 2 Clement (p. 46), and may be arranged as follows :— “And to Salome enquiring ‘how long death shall have power’ the Lord said, So long as ye women bear children. For I came to destroy the works of woman- kind. And Salome said to him, I have done well then in not bearing children. But the Lord answered saying, Eat every herb, but that which hath bitterness do not eat. And when Salome enquired when should be known the things about which He was asked (i.e. when the king- dom of God shall come) the Lord said, When ye shall have trodden down the garment of shame, and when the two shall be one, and the male with the female neither male nor female.” + 1 Clem. Alex. Strom. iii. 6, 45 ; iii. 9, 63, 64, 66; iii. 18, 92; Exe. Theod. § 67. τῇ Σαλώμῃ πυνθανομένῃ, μέχρι πότε θάνατος ἰσχύσει, εἶπεν ὁ κύριος" μέχρις ἂν ὑμεῖς αἱ γυναῖκες τίκτετε. ἦλθον γὰρ καταλῦσαι τὰ ἔργα τῆς θηλείας" καὶ ἡ Σαλώμη ἔφη αὐτῷ" καλῶς οὖν ἐποίησα μὴ τεκοῦσα᾽ ὁ δὲ Κύριος ἠμείψατο λέγων᾽ πᾶσαν φάγε βοτάνην, τὴν de πικρίᾶν ἔχουσαν μὴ φάγῃς" πυνθανομένης δὲ τῆς Σαλώμης πότε γνωσθή- σεται τὰ περὶ ὧν ἤρετο, ἔφη ὁ Κύριος" ὅταν οὖν τὸ τῆς αἰσχύνης ἔνδυμα πατήσητε καὶ ὅταν γένηται τὰ δύο ἕν, καὶ τὸ ἄρρεν μετὰ τῆς θηλείας, οὔτε ἄρρεν δῦτε θῆλυ. 43 44 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST This curious passage is quoted as belonging to the Gospel according to the Egyptians. The whole text must be taken as having some probable truth in it, but it appears to have been brought into line with the Old Testament, and there would appear to be some connection with the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis—the “garment of shame” having a possible allusion to the aprons worn in the Garden of Eden. It may then be an instance of prophetic gnosis joined to an utterance of our Lord. The saying would probably be a favourite one with the extreme ascetic sect, who looked on marriage as wrong, and preached against any union whatsoever with the world. The saying in Ecclesiasticus may be quoted in reference to the teaching of this saying, “From a woman was the beginning of sin and because of her we all die.” 1 The passage must be received with caution, but the last part distinctly seems to have support. 1 Eecclus. xxv. 24. to eames 8 ————— ae a a ce Mc Rie ce Me eee ae ce a eee al oe ee ee a We A Calin ak tie ee ee = ie, i πω ἀῶ ee i ae Re ied Eee Oy OP et ieee ᾿ 2 . £ νον μο πο. > ὁπ ἢ " THE (SO-CALLED) SECOND EPISTLE OF CLEMENT Tue Second Epistle of Clement is allowed on all hands not to be the genuine work of Clement. In the words of Bishop Lightfoot it is “an ancient homily by an un- known author,” and again “the earliest homily known.” It is probably of the early part of the second century, and by a Gentile writer. It may even come from the same age and circle as “the Shepherd” of Hermas. There is a want of external evidence in favour of the Epistle, and the diversity of style points to its being by a different writer from that of the First Epistle, which is allowed to be Clement’s work. One of the “sayings” quoted in this Second Epistle agrees with a passage which Clement of Alexandria says came from the “Gospel according to the Egyptians,” and it has therefore thus been thought that the other “sayings ” quoted in this Epistle may also have come from the “Gospel according to the Egyptians.” “THE Lord Himself being asked by someone, when His kingdom would come? said, When the two shall be one, and that which is without as that within, and the male with the female, neither male nor female.” ἢ The saying is closely connected with our Lord’s conversation with Salome, quoted under the Gospel according to the Egyptians. A passage containing similar teaching occurs in the Acta Philippi.2 “For the Lord said to me, Except ye make your things below (as) those above, and the left (as) the right, ye shall not enter into My kingdom.” ? Also in Pseudo-Linus, we find “The Lord said in mystery, If ye shall not have made the right as the left and the left as the right, and that which is upward as that which is downward, and that before as that behind, ye shall not see the kingdom of God.” ὃ 12 Clem. xii. 2. ἐπερωτηθεὶς yap αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος ὑπό τινος πότε ἥξει αὐτοῦ ἡ βασιλεία εἶπεν Ὅταν ἔσται τὰ δύο ἕν, καὶ τὸ ἔξω ὡς τὸ ἔσω καὶ τὸ ἄρσεν μετὰ τῆς θηλείας οὔτε ἄρσεν οὔτε θήλυ. 2 Acta Philippi, c. 84 (Tischendorf, Acta Ap. 90). εἶπεν γάρ μοι ὁ Κύριος ἐὰν μὴ ποιήσητε ὑμῶν τὰ κάτω els τὰ ἄνω, καὶ τὰ ἀριστερὰ εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν μου. 3 Pseudo-Linus, Martyriwm Petri, p. 17. Dominus in mysterio dixerat, si non feceritis dexteram sicut sinistram, et sinistram sicut dexteram, et que sursum sunt sicut deorsum, et que ante sicut qui retro, ἘΠ cognoscetis regnum dei. (SO-CALLED) SECOND EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 47 The “saying” is commented on by 2 Clement as follows : “Two are one,” he says, “ when we speak the truth one to another: and when in two bodies there shall be, without any pretence, but one soul.” * And again, “That which is within is the soul, and that which is without is the body : just as then thy body is visible to sight, so also let thy soul be manifest by good works.” * And again, “‘The male is Christ and the female the Church,” * this being a probable allusion to St Paul’s words, “I speak in regard of Christ and of the Church.” * There are similar sayings in the New Testament which may be compared— “That ye may be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inward man.”° ‘There is one body, and one Spirit.”° “ Wherefore we faint not: but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day.”? “There can be neither bond nor free: there can be no male and female.” ὃ The “saying” would appear to be genuine, and to be one of those mystic utterances in which our Lord 12 Clem, xii. 4. τὰ δύο δὲ ἕν ἐστιν, ὅταν λαλῶμεν ἑαυτοῖς ἀλήθειαν, καὶ ἐν δυσὶ σώμασιν ἀνυποκρίτως εἴη μία ψυχή. 2 τὴν ψυχὴν λέγει τὸ ἔσω, τὸ δὲ ἔξω τὸ σῶμα λέγει. ὃν τρόπον οὖν σου τὸ σῶμα φαίνεται, οὕτως καὶ ἡ ψυχή σου δῆλος ἔστω ἐν τοῖς καλοῖς ἔργοις. 3 τὸ ἄρσεν ἐστιν 6 χριστός, τὸ δὲ θῆλυ ἡ ἐκκλησία. 4 Ephes. v. 32. 5 Ephes. iii. 16 δ Ephes. iv. 4. 7 2 Cor. iv. 16. 8 Gal. iii. 28. 48 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST looked on to the complete victory over worldly attrac- tions, which should come about in those who give up all things for Him, and also looked on to the singleness of mind of those who, through prayer and sacrament, should be daily renewed by the Spirit. “(The Lord) says—Keep the flesh pure, and the seal unspotted, that we may receive eternal life.” | The quotation is from 2 Clement,! and is supported by the Acts of Paul and Thecla.? Ignatius has — after his memorable phrase “ Do nothing without the Bishop”—‘“keep your flesh as the temple of God.” The same thought would appear to be in St Paul’s words to the Corinthians, “‘Know ye not, that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”* and to Timothy, “that thou keep the com- mandment without spot, without reproach,” ὅ and again “keep thyself pure.” ὁ Similar advice comes in the Epistle to the Ephesians : “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye ~ were sealed unto the day of redemption.” 7 12 Clem. viii. 6. dpa οὖν τοῦτο λέγει" τηρήσατε τὴν σάρκα ἀγνὴν καὶ τὴν σφραγῖδα ἄσπιλον, ἵνα τὴν αἰώνιον ζωὴν ἀπολάβωμεν. 2 Acta Pauli et Thecle, ο. 2. 3 Ign. ad Philad, vii. 1,2. τὴν σάρκα ὑμῶν ὡς ναὸν θεοῦ τηρεῖτε. 41 Cor. iii. 16. 5 1 Tim. vi. 14. $ 1 Tim. v. 22. 7 Ephes. iv. 30, (SO-CALLED) SECOND EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 49 Τὸ may be that the mention of “the seal” may refer to the gift given in Confirmation or the “laying on of hands ”—or may even refer to the regeneration in baptism. “For the Lord saith in the Gospel, If ye have not kept that which is small, who will give to you that which is great? For I say unto you, he that is faithful in very little, is faithful also in much.” The saying is from 2 Clement.' It would seem to be closely akin to the passage in St Luke, “He that is faithful in a very little, is faithful also in much. ... And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?” 2—and also to the verse of St Matthew, “Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things.” * Trenzus has the following passage: ‘“ And for this reason the Lord declared to those who showed themselves ungrateful towards Him, ‘If ye have not been faithful in that which is little, who will give you that which is great?’ Indicating that those who in this brief temporal life have shown themselves 1 2 Clem. viii. 5. λέγει yap ὁ Κύριος ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ᾽ εἰ τὸ μικρὸν οὐκ ἐτηρήσατε, τὸ μέγα τίς ὑμῖν δώσει ; λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν, ὅτι ὁ πιστὸς ἐν ἐλαχίστῳ καὶ ἐν πολλῷ πιστός ἐστιν. 3 Luke xvi. 10, 12. 3 Matt. xxv. 21. D 50 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST ungrateful to Him who bestowed it, shall justly not receive from Him length of days for ever and ever.” ἢ The saying has some points of interest and confirms the teaching which our Lord often enforced, that it is needful to do what lies to hand and not only to long to do great things. Ordinary duties, if well done, may become stepping-stones to important tasks. “ The Lord said, If ye have been gathered with Me m My bosom, and do not My commandments, I will cast you away and will say to you, Go from Me, I know you not whence ye are, ye workers of miquity.” 5 The saying seems a variant of St Luke’s words, ‘‘ He shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are: then shall ye begin to say, We did eat and drink in Thy presence, and Thou didst teach in our streets: and He shall say, I tell you I know not whence ye are : depart from Me all ye workers of iniquity.”* Inas- much as at an Eastern meal the guests would recline on couches, the words “gathered with Me in My 1 Tren. ad Haer. ii. 34, 3. Et ideo Dominus dicebat ingratis exsistentibus in eum, Si in modico fideles non fuistis, quod magnum est quis dabit vobis? Significans quoniam qui in modica temporali vita ingrati extiterunt ei, qui eam prestitit, juste non percipient ab eo in seculum seculi longitudinem dierum. 22 Clem, iv. 5. εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος, ᾿Εὰν ἦτε μετ᾽ ἐμου συνηγμένοι ἐν τῳ κόλπῳ μου καὶ μὴ ποιῆτε τὰς ἐντολάς μου, ἀποβαλῷ ὑμᾶς καὶ ἐρῶ ὑμῖν" ὑπαγετε am’ ἐμοῦ" οὐκ οἷδα ὑμᾶς, πόθεν ἐστέ, ἐργάται ἀνομίας. 3 Luke xiii. 26, 27. = (SO-CALLED) SECOND EPISTLE OF CLEMENT 51 bosom ” convey much the same meaning as St Luke’s words, “ We did eat and drink in Thy presence.” St John reclined at the Last Supper “on Jesus’ breast,” and the beggar Lazarus in the unseen world is spoken of as in “ Abraham’s bosom.” “ (10) We have St Paul saying, “Prove all things: hold fast that which is good.” ® We find in Origen, “ (Christ) says, Prove all things: hold fast that which is good.” 7 Though it cannot be said that the list is a strong one, or that the support given to what may be termed the theory in question is, on the statement of the highest authorities, great: still we have the fact that it at least seems possible that some of the apostolic sayings which 1 Anastasius, Sinait. iii. p. 429. καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἑφάνη αὐτῷ ὁ σωτὴρ ἀναμιμνήσκων αὐτῷ τῆς ἐντολῆς αὐτοῦ λεγούσης, μὴ ἀποδιδόναι κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ. 2 Rom. viii. 14. 3 Ephraem Syr. Ev. Conc. Expos. Sicut et dicit: Qui spiritu Dei ambulant hi sunt filii Dei. * 1 Thess. vy. 17. 5 Ephraem Syr. p. 363, opp. ii. 227 Ὁ. διὰ τοῦτο ἔφη ἡμῖν ὁ κύριος, Τρηγορεῖτε, δεόμενοι ἀδιαλείπτως ἐκφυγεῖν ἐκ θλίψεως. 61 Thess. v. 21. 7 Origen in Matt. xxvii. 33, opp. iii. 852. Illud mandatum quod ait (Christus) . . . et illud quod ait Omnia probate: quod bonum est tenete. 74 ΤῊΝ UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST we associate with the Epistles alone, were held by certain writers at least to be reiterated sayings of Christ. It may be that subsequent discoveries of sayings of the Lord may give further evidence that even other verses of the Epistles than those we have quoted were originally sayings of Christ. It may even be that sub- sequent discoveries will prove that some of those wonderful hortatory utterances in the Apocalypse of St John were originally “sayings of Christ,” though at present this cannot be regarded as more than a suggestion. It is a matter in which we feel compelled to walk warily, and to avoid building on a foundation which might in any sense be called insecure; but there are certainly grounds for thinking that it is at least possible that the definite sayings of our Lord covered more ground than we at present know, although for some good reason they have not been preserved to us in the Four Canonical Gospels. SAYINGS COLLECTED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES “T ... to remember] the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to gwe than to recewe.” The saying is found in the Acts,) but it is no- where actually recorded among the words of our Lord in the Gospels. The instance is interesting and important as showing, that even within the covers of the New Testament, there is record of a saying which neither of the Evangelists make Christ utter. It is quoted by Epiphanius in these words, “Re- member the words of the Lord: for He said, It is good to give, rather than to receive.” 5 Clement of Rome has it in another form, ‘“‘ More gladly giving than receiving.”* “And when the Lord said that he who gives is 1 Acts xx. 35. μνημονεύειν τε τῶν λόγων τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπεν Μακάριόν ἐστιν μᾶλλον διδόναι ἢ λαμβάνειν. 2Epiph. Her. 74, 5. μνημονεύετε τῶν λόγων κυρίου, ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπεν ᾿Αγαθὸν διδόναι μᾶλλον ἢ λαμβάνειν. Clem. Β. 1. 2,1. ἥδιον διδόντες ἢ λαμβάνοντες. νὰ 76 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST blessed rather than he who receives] For it has again been said by Him, Woe to them that have, and receive im hypocrisy: or, are able to keep themselves and wish to receive from others. For both of them shall give an account to the Lord God in the day of judgment.” The quotation is from the Constitutions: The say- ing, in some form, appears to be general. It is clearly connected with the previous saying. Clement of Alexandria has it: ‘“‘ But woe to them that have, and receive in hypocrisy: or are able to help themselves, and wish to obtain help by begging from others. For he who has, and receives through hypocrisy or idleness, shall be condemned.”? The rebuke of our Lord, uttered to the scribes, is a parallel: ‘‘ Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers.”* St Paul has a similar remark, as to the shame of the lazy and thriftless receiving charity: “ΠῚ any will not work, neither let him eat.” 4 1Constit. iv. 8. ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ Κύριος μακάριον εἶπεν εἶναι τὸν διδόντα ἤπερ τὸν λαμβάνοντα" καὶ γὰρ εἴρηται πάλιν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ οὐαὶ τοῖς ἔχουσιν καὶ ἐν ὑποκρίσει λαμβάνουσιν ἢ δυναμένοις βοηθεῖν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ λαμβάνειν map ἑτέρων βουλομένοις. ἑκάτερος yap ἀποδώσει λόγον κυρίῳ τῷ θεῴ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως. 2Clem. Alex. Frag. ex Nicete catena in Matthei cap. v. 42. Οὐαὶ δὲ τοῖς ἔχουσι καὶ ἐν ὑποκρίσει λαμβάνουσιν 7 δυναμένοις βοηθεῖν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ λαμβάνειν παρ᾽ ἑτέρων βουλομένοις. ὁ γὰρ ἔχων, καὶ δι’ ὑπόκρισιν ἢ ἀργίαν λαμβάνων, κατακριθήσεται. ® Luke xx, 47. 42 Thess. iii. 10. SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 77 “ Most of all being mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus which He spake when teaching sweet reasonable- ness and long suffering, for thus He said :— Be merciful that ye may obtain mercy : Remit that it may be remitted to you: As ye do, so shall it be done unto you: As ye give, so shall it be given unto you: As ye judge, so shall it be judged unto you: As ye are kind, so shall kindness be done to you : With what measure ye mete, it shall be meted to you.” The quotation is from Clement of Rome.’ These words possibly may strike us at first as a mere repetition of words which our Lord is recorded in the Gospels to have spoken: but on further inspection the grouping of “sayings” appears to be important, and in the opinion of some writers the words cannot be a free reminiscence of words in St Matthew and St Luke. Tt will be noticed that the “sayings” are introduced with a statement similar to that in the Acts? (where we have an undoubted saying of Christ), “to re- member the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said.” *Clem, R. i. 13, 2. μάλιστα μεμνημένοι τῶν λόγων τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ, ods ἐλάλησεν διδάσκων ἐπιείκειαν καὶ μακροθυμίαν: οὕτως γὰρ εἶπεν" ἐλεᾶτε, ἵνα ἐλεηθῆτε' ἀφίετε, ἵνα ἀφεθῇ ὑμῖν᾽ ὡς ποιεῖτε, οὕτω ποιη- θήσεται ὑμῖν. ὡς δίδοτε, οὕτως δοθήσεται ὑμῖν. ὡς κρίνετε, οὕτως κριθήσεσθε. ὡς χρηστεύεσθε, οὕτως χρηστευθήσεται ὑμῖν. ᾧ μέτρῳ μετρεῖτε, ἐν αὐτῷ μετρηθήσεται ὑμῖν. 3 Acts xx, 88. 78 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST The seven sayings occur again with almost no varia- tion in Clement of Alexandria,! where they are intro- duced by the words, “‘the Lord says.” It does not seem likely that Clement of Alexandria is copying from Clement of Rome. Polycarp also has the sayings in part, and he intro- duces them with the words, “remembering the things which the Lord said in His teaching.” ? It seems probable that the “sayings” must be ac- cepted in the form given. “ The Saviour Himself says, He that is near Me, is near the fire ; and he who is far from Me, is far from the kingdom.” The saying comes from Origen.? The words of our Lord, as given by St Luke, will at once suggest them- selves, “I came to cast fire on the earth; and what will Lif it is already kindled?” * and again the words of the Baptist with reference to Christ, “ He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.”> St Mark also makes our Lord say, “‘ For every one shall be salted with fire.” ° The idea of acquiring the kingdom is brought before us in a saying which St Mark attributes to our Lord 1 Clem. Alex. Strom. ii. 18, 91... . φησὶν ὁ Κύριος, 2 Polyc. ad Phil. ii. 8. μνημονεύοντες δὲ ὧν εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος διδάσκων, 8 Origen, Hom. in Jerem. xx. 8. Ait autem ipse Salvator: Qui juxta me est, juxta ignem est: qui longe est a me, longe est a regno. 4 Luke xii, 49, 5 Luke iii. 16. 8 Mark ix, 49, SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 79 in conversation with one of the scribes, “‘ Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.”* The meaning of the saying is not altogether easy to decide. Fire in the New Testament would more gene- rally be the symbol of that which destroys all that needs destruction. In Eastern lands what is most dreaded as paralysing and exhausting is not cold, but heat. Too much stress must not, however, be laid on this. It would seem that the saying combines two truths, that there was a danger in being near our Lord, and a still greater danger in being far from Him. ' The case of Judas might show that immediate proxi- mity to the Light of Life might result in spiritual dark- ness, and St Paul spoke of himself and his brother disciples as being to some a savour from life unto life, but to others a savour from death unto death. He who carelessly and wantonly comes to Christ, proffering lip service while the heart may be far away, may be in danger; and yet it is by approach to Christ alone that all that is base and unworthy in man can be burnt out and done away. The saying seems to be genuine. An interesting remark, though not one that can be safely ascribed to our Lord, bears on this saying, “The weary soul is near God.” It is quoted, as from the “‘ Doctrine of Peter,” by Gregory Nazianzen.? 1 Mark xii. 34. 5 Greg. Naz. Ep. 16 (or 20). Κάμνουσα ψυχὴ ἐγγύς ἐστι θεοῦ, 80 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST Another pertinent phrase is quoted by Clement of Alexandria: “He that is near the Lord is full of stripes.” + This latter would seem to be closely in touch with a passage in Judith: “For He hath not tried us in the fire, as He did them, to search out their hearts ; neither hath He taken vengeance on us; but the Lord doth scourge them that come near unto Him to admonish them.” ” Ignatius also speaks of a similar situation : “‘ He who is near to the sword, is near God.” ὃ “ Therefore the Saviour saith, Be thou saved, thou and thy soul.” The saying is quoted by Clement of Alexandria,* and is closely connected with the passage in St Luke about Lot’s wife. If the “saying” is to be regarded as of the Lord, and it seems that it must be so regarded, the passage in St Luke would not be disturbed by the in- sertion of these words at the end of his verses. The context would then be, “In that day, he which shall be on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away ; and let him that is in 1 Clem. Alex. Strom. ii. 7, 35. καὶ 6 ἐγγὺς κυρίου πλήρης μαστίγων. 2 Judith viii. 27. 3 Ignat. ad Smyrn. 4. ἐγγὺς μαχαίρας ἐγγὺς θεοῦ. 4 Clem. Alex. exceptae Theod, 2. διὰ τοῦτο λέγει ὁ σωτήρ᾽ σώζου σὺ καὶ ἡ ψυχή σου. 5 Luke xvii. 32, τσ. «- SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 81 the field likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to gain his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. Be thou saved, thou and thy soul.” The addition of the words seems to improve the sense. It is of interest to notice that in the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament we have in this passage the advice given to Lot and his relatives, “ Use every effort to save thy soul.” * “ We remember that our Lord and Master commanding us, said, Keep My mystery for Me and the sons of My house.” The quotation is from the Clementine Homilies.* There is found in St Mark a similar saying, ‘‘ Unto you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God” ;* and later on St Mark tells us, “but privately to His own disciples He expounded all things.” * St Paul also speaks of the Apostles being “" Ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God ”;° and again he remarks, “We speak wisdom among the perfect.” ® Our Lord makes a parallel utterance, accord- ing to St Matthew, “Give not that which is holy 1 Gen. xix. 17. σώξων σῶζε τὴν σεαυτοῦ ψυχήν. 3 Clem. Hom. xix, 20. μεμνήμεθα τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ διδασκάλου, ὡς ἐντελλόμενος εἶπεν ἡμῖν Τὰ μυστήρια ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς τοῦ οἴκου μου φυλάξετε. 3 Mark iy. 11. 4 Mark iv. 34. 5 1 Cor. iv. 1. 61 Cor. ii. 6. 82 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the © swine.” ὦ Westcott points out that in Theodotion’s Greek version of Isaiah occur the words, “ My mystery for me, my mystery for me [and mine].”? Clement of Alexandria has the saying thus: “For it is not in the way of envy, that the Lord announced in a gospel, My mystery is to me, and to the sons of my house.” ὃ The saying, which is probably genuine, lays stress on the truth that though the revelation given by our Lord was for all, He committed it at first to a few. He Himself had said, “If any man willeth to do His (God’s) will, he shall know of the teaching whether it be of God” ; and all through the Christian ages it has been, that though possibly the many have mocked and reviled and rejected the revelation, those who have in humble faith been ready to receive Christ and His truth, have found an enduring peace that passeth all understanding. For them, His mysteries have become very real and blessed facts. “But hearing the Lord saying, Follow after faith and hope, through which is begotten love both 1 Matt. vii. 6. 2 Is, xxiv. 16. 3 Clem. Alex. Strom. v. 10, 64. οὐ yap φθονῶν, φησί, παρήγγειλεν ὁ Κύριος ἔν τινι εὐαγγελίῳ: μυστήριον ἐμὸν ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς τοῦ οἴκου μου. SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 88 towards God and towards man which brings eternal life.” The quotation is from Macarius‘ and is similar to St Paul’s words, ‘‘ But now abideth faith, hope, love, these three : and the greatest of these is love.” 5 Our Lord’s words, in St John, are very strong as to the need of love, “‘ By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.” * Similar expressions are common in the Epistles. “ For we through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness ” *—“ Forbearing one another in love ”5— “‘ Love one another from the heart fervently.”® “ Having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have toward all the saints, because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens.” 7 Ignatius speaks of “love, which is the beginning and the end of life.”* Barnabas speaks of “the hope of life, the beginning and end of our faith,” 5 and “ great faith and love dwelleth in you by the hope in His life,” 19 and Polycarp has a sentence “‘to the faith that has been 1 Macarius, Hom. 37. ἀλλ᾽ ἀκούων τοῦ κυρίου λέγοντος ἐπιμελεῖσθε πίστεως καὶ ἐλπίδος, δὲ ὧν γεννᾶται ἡ φιλόθεος καὶ φιλάνθρωπος ἀγάπη ἡ τὴν αἰώνιον ζωὴν παρέχουσα. 2 1 Cor. xiii. 18. % John xiii. 35. * Gal. v. 5 Ephes. iv. 2. δ 1 Pet. i. 22. 7 Col. i. 4. 8 Ignat. ad Ephes. xiv. 1. τὴν ἀγάπην ἥτις ἐστὶν ἀρχὴ ζωῆς καὶ τέλος. 9 Barnab. i. 6. fwijs ἐλπίς, ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος πίστεως ἡμων. 10 Barnab.i. 4. ὅτι μεγάλη πίστις καὶ ἀγάπη ἐγκατοικεῖ ἐν υμῖν Ἀπίδι ζωῆς αὐτοῦ. 84 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST given to you which is the mother of us all: followed by hope, preceded by love.” ! The strong insistence in Holy Scripture of the necessity of faith, and hope, and love, is very marked ; and it is by no means unlikely that our Lord gave utterance to some statement which combined these three virtues together. “On the same day, having seen one working on the Sabbath, He said to him, O man, if indeed thou knowest what thou doest, thou art blessed: but if thou knowest not, thow art accursed, and a transgressor of the law.” The saying is quoted in Codex Bez (D), the im- portant MS. of the Gospels at Cambridge, in connection with the narrative of David and the shew-bread, mentioned by St Luke.? It will be remembered that Christ declared that the Son of Man is “Lord of the Sabbath,” and it would seem that this saying supported that utterance. St Paul seems to point out that our Lord brought in a new state of things. ‘“‘ Before faith came we were kept in ward under the law, shut up unto the faith which 1 Polycarp ad Phil. iii. 2, 3. els τὴν δοθεῖσαν ὑμῖν πίστιν. ἥτις ἐστὶν μήτηρ πάντων ἡμῶν, ἐπακολουθούσης τῆς ἐλπίδος, προαγούσης τῆς ἀγάπης. . .. 2 Codex Cantab. (D) ad Luke vi. 4. τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ θεασάμενός τινα ἐργαζόμενον τῷ σαββάτῳ εἶπεν αὐτῷ" ἄνθρωπε, el μὲν oldas τί ποιεῖς, μακάριος εἶ" εἰ δὲ μὴ oldas, ἐπικατάρατος καὶ παραβάτης el τοῦ νόμου. SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 85 should afterwards be revealed” :! and again, “ We also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the rudiments of the world.” 5 The saying implies, that if the man knew what he was doing in breaking the law—.e. in breaking the letter of the law, was following the spirit of the law— he was blameless. St Paul gives the same lesson to the Romans: “He that doubteth, is condemned if he eat (unclean meats), because he eateth not of faith.” * The saying recalls the incident mentioned in Numbers of the man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day.* The saying, which is probably genuine, is full of deep meaning. It clearly states that this man was working on the Sabbath, and thus breaking a commandment: but it as clearly states that he was not necessarily cursed: nay, if he knew what he was doing—in- telligibly and thoughtfully knew, that is—he was even blessed. The whole incident goes to condemn heedless, careless breaking of the fourth commandment, and yet implies that circumstances might make a breaking of the fourth commandment praiseworthy. It clearly favours an observance of the spirit of the law and upholds a wise, enlightened reverence for that well-being of mankind which the command as to the Sabbath was meant to bring about. Apparently there may be reasons which, 1 Gal. iii. 23. 2 Gal. iv. 3. 3 Rom. xiv. 23. * Numb, xv. 32, κιτ.λ. 86 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST if substantial and well considered, will make what appears to be an infringement of one of God’s com- mands, become a blessed deed. “At length the Lord said to them, Why do ye wonder at the signs? I give to you a great inherit- ance, which the world possesseth not.” The saying is quoted by Macarius.! The effect of our Lord’s “signs” on the multitude is noticed in many places in the Gospels. St Luke has a striking notice: “But while all were marvelling at all the things which He did, He said unto His disciples, Let these words sink into your ears” ;? and St John quotes our Lord’s words to the nobleman : “ Except ye see signs and wonders ye will in no wise believe” ;* and to Nathanael, “ Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under- neath the fig tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these.” 4 Our Lord on the other hand was always leading men on to the appreciation of higher things than signs, which were in store for them—things which, in St Peter’s words, were “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.” > 1 Macar. Hom. xii. 17. λοιπὸν ὁ κύριος ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς" τί θαυμάζετε τὰ σημεῖα ; κληρονομίαν μεγάλην δίδωμι ὑμῖν, ἣν οὐκ ἔχει ὁ κόσμος ὅλος. 2 Luke ix. 48, * Johniv. 48. 4 Johni. 50. © 1 Pet. i. 4. SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 87 St Paul also, in his address to the Ephesian elders, speaks of God as “able to give (them) the inheritance among all them that are sanctified.” ἢ “The whole world” is an expression which is by no means unusual in our Lord’s utterance. St Matthew and St Luke both make our Lord ‘speak of a man finding no profit ‘in gaining the whole world and forfeiting his life.” * The phrase is also used by St John, “The whole world lieth in the evil one.” ὃ “ Jesus said to His disciples, Ask great things, and the small shall be added to you: ask heavenly things and the earthly shall be added to you.” The “saying” is quoted by Origen.* In another place he states that our Lord had taught “to seek nothing small but only great things and truly divine.° Eusebius regards it as a “saying” of Christ,® and Clement of Alexandria apparently does the same.’ Elsewhere Clement speaks, “But seek ye first the 1 Acts xx. 32. 2 Matt. xvi. 26; Luke ix. 25. 3 1 John v. 19. 4 Origen, de Orat. 2. εἶπε γὰρ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ Αἰτεῖτε τὰ μεγάλα καὶ τὰ μικρὰ ὑμῖν προστεθήσεται, καὶ αἰτεῖτε τὰ ἐπουράνια καὶ τὰ ἐπίγεια προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν. 5 Origen, c. Celsum, vii. 44. ἔμαθε γὰρ (i.e. ‘‘ The Christian”) ἀπο τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μηδὲν μικρὸν τουτέστιν αἰσθητὸν ζητεῖν, ἀλλὰ μόνα τὰ μεγάλᾳ ἢ καὶ ἀληθῶς θεῖα. 6 Euseb. in Psalm xvi. 2. 7 Clem, Alex, Strom. i, 24, 88 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, for these are the great things; and the things which are small and appertain to this life shall be added to you,” ! and he quotes this apparently as a saying of Christ. St Matthew has similar words, “But seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you” ;? and again, “ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth.” ὃ St Paul, too, gives similar advice, “ Seek the things that “are above. ... Set your mind on the things that are above; not on things that are upon the earth.” 4 The form in which the saying comes to us makes for its genuineness and seems to denote the Hebrew parallelism. “ The command of Jesus, which said, Become ye ap- proved bankers.” The saying is quoted by Origen,® and is very fre- quently mentioned by other writers. Cyril of Alexandria, Pamphilus, Basil, and Cyril of Jerusalem quote it as an appendix to the verse of St 1 Clem. Alex. Strom. iv. 6, 34. ἕητεῖτε δὲ πρῶτον τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ Thy δικαιοσύνην, ταῦτα γὰρ μεγάλα. τὰ δὲ μικρὰ καὶ περὶ τὸν βίον, ταῦτα προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν. 2 Matt. vi. 33. 3 Matt. vi. 19. 41 Col. iii. 1, 2. 5 Origen in John xix. 2. . . . τὴν ἐντολὴν Ἰησοῦ λέγουσαν Δόκιμοι τραπεζῖται γίνεσθε. ee αι πιῶ a Sear _—~ SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 89 Paul, “ Prove all things: hold fast that which is good : abstain from every form of evil.” ἢ Clement of Alexandria comments on it, ‘‘ Be ye ap- proved bankers: rejecting some things, but holding to the good.” ? In the “ Pistis Sophia” we find, “1 have said to you of old, Be ye as wise bankers: that is, take the good, cast out the bad.” * Chrysostom remarks upon it: “Not that ye may stand in the market-place and count silver coins, but that ye may try words with all exactness.” + Procopius, after quoting St Paul’s words, adds, “ For the saints are proved bankers.” ® Origen remarks, “The art by which you may learn to discern what money it is, which has the likeness of the true king: what also is base, and, as is commonly said, made away from the mint.” ® 1 1 Thess. v. 21. 2 Clem. Alex. Strom. i. 28. γίνεσθε δὲ δόκιμοι τραπεζῖται, τὰ μὲν ἀποδοκιμάζοντες τὸ δὲ καλὸν κατέχοντες. 3 Pistis Soph. ed. Oxon. 1799. [Salvator Marie respondet] dixi vobis olim : estote sicut prudentes trapezite : bonum retinete, malum Teiicite. *Chrysost. v. 844. γίνεσθε τραπεζῖται δόκιμοι, οὐχ ἵνα ἐπὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἑστῶτες τὰ ἀργύρια ἀριθμῆτε, ἀλλὰ τοὺς λόγους βασανίζητε μετὰ ἀκριβείας ἀπάσης. 5 Procop. Comment in Lev. p. 331, Migne T. 87. . . . Pauli dicentis Omnia probate, quod bonum est tenete. Sancti etenim sunt probati trapezite. ® Origen in Lev. iii. 8. . . . artem .. . per quam scias discernere quz sit pecunia, que veri regis imaginem tenet, que vero sit adulterina, et (ut vulgo dicitur) extra monetam formata. 90 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST Jerome remarks upon the saying, “All things must be done with a plan; that as cautious and anxious men we may do those things alone which we know please God, after the custom of a prudent banker, who proves the inscribed coin not only by the eye but by weight and ring.” ! St Luke puts words that, in a way, have a similar meaning, into our Lord’s mouth: “Ye know how to interpret the face of the earth and the heaven: but . how is it that ye know not how to interpret this time ? ” 2 The advice “Judge righteous judgment”® may be compared. Dr Rendel Harris remarks that this saying was probably in the Diatessaron of Tatian. + It is of interest to notice that in “the Doctrine of Addai” there occurs what appears to be mention of a practical use of this saying. The Apostle is addressing the people of Edessa and exhorting them to accept Christian truth : and his words are, “ According as my Lord commanded me, lo! I preach and publish the Gospel; and lo! His money do I cast on the table before you.” ® In Eastern lands the banker fills an important part: 1 Jerome ad Ephes, v. 10. Omnia facienda cum consilio, ut cauti atque solliciti, eatantum, que scimus deo placere, faciamus in morem prudentissimi trapezite, qui sculptum nomisma non solum oculo, sed et pondere et tinnitu probat. ? Luke xii. 56. 3 John vii. 24, 4 Diat. p. 32, 5 Doctr, of Addai, Ed, Phillipps, p. 22, ἀν es 5 ml nn et ἃς SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 91 he is one of the people ; sitting in their midst whereso- ever his presence in needed, and in a very rough and ready way changing money for them and facilitating their desire to buy or sell—helping them to conclude their bargains, holding friendly intercourse with them, and yet all the while quietly on the watch to avoid being imposed upon, and ever eager in a moment to detect anything wrong. The saying seems to give the warning that Christ’s followers are to be men of business in the highest sense : using this world, but at the same time guarding against being taken in by it—quietly, without ostenta- tion, avoiding all things that might cause them to suffer loss, having as their one aim in life the attainment of the eternal reward. The “saying” is the most com- monly quoted of all those outside the Gospels, and would appear to be genuine. “ Jesus says—For those that are sick, I was sick : and for those that hunger, I suffered hunger: and for those that thirst, I suffered thirst.” The saying is quoted by Origen. It does little more than give us St Matthew’s words in another form, “For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat : 1In Matt. Comm. xiii. 2. καὶ Ἰησοῦς γοῦν φησὶν" διὰ τοὺς ἀσθενοῦντας ἠσθένουν καὶ διὰ τοὺς πεινῶντας ἐπείνων καὶ διὰ τοὺς διψῶντας ἐδίψων. 92 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was astranger, and ye took Me in: naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.” ? The words of St Paul may be quoted, “for He was crucified through weakness” ;? and again, “for your sakes He became poor” ;* and again, “ taking the form of a servant.”* St Paul further mentions that he himself, after the example of his Master, endured chastening : “To the weak, I became weak, that I might gain the weak.” 5 St Matthew notes that Christ fulfilled Isaiah’s pro- phecy : “ Himself took our infirmities and bare our diseases ” ;° and the saying seems almost to imply that this was one purpose of His becoming incarnate. We may notice that the saying has a striking affinity with the one in the Oxyrhynchus Fragment, p. 60. “For the Lord saith, Love covers a multitude of ” sins. The saying is quoted in the Didascalia and again by Clement of Alexandria.’ It is given in St Peter’s First Epistle,? and it is of course possible that St Peter, and the Didascalia, and 1 Matt. xxv. 85,36. 5320 ον. xiii. 4. 32 Cor, viii. 9. 4Phil. ii. 7. 51 Cor. ix. 22. 8 Matt. viii. 17. 7 ὅτι λέγει κύριος ᾿Αγάπη καλύπτει πλῆθος duaprioy—Didase. ii. 8 ; Clem, Alex. Peed. iii. 12, 91. 8 1 Pet. iv. 8. Gen. i. 27. ν 94 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST their meeting are, ‘Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as one seeth the face of God.” } And further, when Moses grows alarmed at his lack of eloquence which he imagined so necessary for his mission, the Divine words are, “It shall come to pass that he (Aaron) shall be to thee a mouth, and thou shalt be to him as God.” ? The similarity between this saying and p. 104 should be marked: “So see ye me in yourselves as any one of you sees himself in water or in a mirror.” Clement of Alexandria in another passage remarks, “For it is said, Having seen thy brother thou hast seen thy God. I think that now the Saviour God is declared to us.” ὃ “ For the Lord saith, Behold I made the last as the first.” The saying is quoted in a high authority, the Epistle of Barnabas.* It would seem to have reference to the verse in the Apocalypse which, though not in the same words, has 1 Gen. xxxiii. 10, 2 Ex. iv. 16. 3 Clem. Alex. Strom. i. 19, 94. εἶδες yap, φησί, τὸν ἀδελφόν σου, εἶδες τὸν θεόν σου" τὸν Σωτῆρα οἶμαι θεὸν εἰρῆσθαι ἡμῖν τὰ viv. 4 Barnab, vi. 18, λέγει δὲ Κύριος ᾿Ιδοὺ ποιῶ τὰ ἔσχατα ὡς τά πρῶτα. a, y 1 Υ A SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 95 the same thought, “‘ And he that sitteth on the throne said, ‘Behold I make all things new.’”* It would be interesting to think that this verse in the Apocalypse went some little way towards confirming the idea that some of the “sayings” in that book were in reality reiterated sayings of Christ. The difference in the actual words of the “saying” from the words of the Apocalypse prevent, however, this point being pressed, and the words in the Apocalypse may possibly be a quotation from Is. xliii. 19. From the source whence the “saying” comes it would seem to be a genuine utterance of Christ. “The Lord also warns and says, Be ye unwilling to grieve the Holy Spirit which is in you: and be ye unwilling to extinguish the light which hath shone forth in you.” This “saying” is quoted in the treatise “de Alea- toribus” attached to the works of Cyprian,? and has been alluded to also under the heading “Sayings in our Epistles which may also be sayings of Christ.” It seems to group together St Paul’s teaching, “ And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption ”;* and again, “Quench not the Spirit.” + 1 Rev. xxi. 5. 5 De Aleat. c. 3. Monet dominus et dicit: nolite contristare spiritum sanctum qui in vobis est, et nolite extinguere lumen, quod in vobis effulsit. 3 Ephes. iv. 30. 4 1 Thess. v. 19. 96 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST St Matthew’s words may also be compared : “ Even so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” ἢ And also St Luke’s : “ Look therefore whether the light that is in thee be not darkness.” 2 The “saying” may of course be a conflation of St Paul’s two passages ; on the other hand it seems possible that our Lord originally uttered the two “sayings” as one. “ But seek ye from little to increase, and that from the greater there be a less.” This saying occurs*® in the Cambridge MS. of the Gospels, immediately after St Matthew’s words, “ Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” ¢ It is followed by the advice to take the lowest seats at feasts. The Curetonian Syriac version has the passage, with the addition of a negative, which certainly seems to make better sense. The translation of the Curetonian Syriac would be: “ But seek ye from little things that ye may become great: and not from great things ye may become little.” 1 Matt.v. . 2 Luke xi. 35. 3 Codex Cantab. (D), Matt. xx. 28. ὑμεῖς δὲ ζητεῖτε ἐκ μικροῦ αὐξῆσαι καὶ ἐκ μείζονος ἔλαττον εἶναι. 4 Matt. xx. 28. SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 97 The saying must apparently be regarded as genuine, and the following of the Curetonian Syriac seems to be the probable rendering. “Thus He (Christ) says, They who wish to see Me, and lay hold of My kingdom, must receive Me by affliction and suffering.” The quotation is given in the Epistle of Barnabas.! There is a striking parallel in the Acts in the words of Paul and Barnabas, spoken in the vicinity of Antioch, “through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.” 5 The same thought was often in the mind of St Paul. We find it in his words to the Thessalonians: “We told you beforehand that we are to suffer affliction ; even as it came to pass, and ye know”;® and in his letter to the Corinthians his words are: “But whether we be afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation, .. . your comfort, which worketh in the patient enduring of the same sufferings, which we also suffer.” ¢ It will be recalled how the Lord at the time of Saul’s conversion said to Ananias, “I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 5 1 Barnab. vii. 11. οὕτω, φησίν, of θέλοντές με ἰδεῖν καὶ ἅψασθαί μου THs βασιλείας, ὀφείλουσιν θλιβέντες καὶ παθόντες λαβεῖν με. 3 Acts xiv. 22. 31 Thess. iii. 4. 4 2 Cor. i. 6. 5 Acts ix. 16. 98 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST St John makes mention of the same warning in the Apocalypse : “ Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer. . . . Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.” 1 “The Prophet of truth said, It must needs be that good deeds come, and blessed, He says, is he by whom they come. “ Takewise also it is necessary that evil deeds come, and woe (to him) by whom they come.” The saying is quoted in the Clementine Homilies.” The first part is new: the second part is the state- ment known to us (in slightly varying form) in St Matthew 8 and St Luke.* The contrasted parallelism in which the saying reaches us—the first part being “the statement,” and the second part “the complementary statement” (the frequent recurrence of which has been already commented on),® goes a long way towards justifying our acceptance of the two parts as forming together the original saying as given by our Lord. It is possible that the remark of St Paul to the Romans shows that he had knowledge of the two parts 1 Rey. ii. 10. 2 Clem. Hom. xii. 29. ὁ τῆς ἀληθείας προφήτης ἔφη Ta ἀγαθὰ ἐλθεῖν δεῖ, μακάριος δὲ, φησὶν, dv οὗ ἔρχεται" ὁμοίως καὶ τὰ κακὰ ἀνάγκη ἐλθεῖν, οὐαὶ δὲ δι᾽ οὗ ἔρχεται. 3 Matt. xviii. 7. * Luke xvii. 1. 5 See Ὁ. 12. SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 99 of the “saying.” He complains that he was slander- ously reported as saying, “Let us do evil, that good may come.” ? Dr Rendel Harris notices that the “Homily of Aphraates” introduces the “saying” with the words “Tt is written,’* which is, of course, a testimony to- wards genuineness. The remark as to the “blessedness of him, by whom good deeds come,” adds distinctly to our knowledge: to say, as some writers on the subject suggest, that this addition is only the old and well-known saying, as to the condemnation bestowed on him by whom offences come, re-set, is apparently to prefer what we consider Christ said, to what He probably did say. “Our Lord Jesus Christ said, In whatsoever I may find you: in this also will I judge you.” The saying is quoted by Justin.2 Clement of Alexandria has the sentence in much the same form, but attributes the words spoken to the Eternal Father : ἡ and Nilus quoted by Anastasius of Sinai has the saying, “Such as I find you, thus will I judge you, saith the Lo 2775 1 Rom. iii. 8. 3 Harris, Diatess. p. 29. 3 Dial. Tryph. xlvii. ὁ ἡμέτερος κύριος "Inoods Χριστὸς εἶπεν" ἐν ols ἂν ὑμᾶς καταλάβω, ἐν τούτοις καὶ κρινῶ. 4 Clem. Alex. Quis dives, v. § 40. 5 Nilus ap. Anast. Sin. Quest. iii. (Migue 89, p. 357). οἷον yap εὗρω σε, τοιοῦτόν σε κρινῶ, φησὶν ὁ Κύριος. 100 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST It seems probable that the saying may have formed part of St Matthew’s account of the evil servant who “shall say in his heart, My lord tarrieth; and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants and shall eat and drink with the drunken: the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder and appoint his portion with the hypocrites.” + The same truth seems pointed out in Ezekiel : “ There- fore will I judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God” ;? and again in another passage : “ According to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God.” 3 St John gives us similar words of Christ, “ As I hear I judge.” * St Paul may seem to have the meaning in view when he remarks to the Philippians: “‘ Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect; but I press on, if so be that I may apprehend that, for which also I was apprehended by Christ Jesus.” ὅ Our Lord in the saying would appear to be uttering a solemn warning against that frame of mind, alas! not uncommon, which is always meaning to lead a right life and yet never sets about doing so. Most Christian people set before them as an ultimate possibility and 1 Matt. xxiv. 48. 2 Hizek. xviii. 30. 3 Ezek. xxiv. 14. 4 John v, 30. 5 Phil. iii, 12, SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 101 hope, the attainment of heaven, but are very ready to continually postpone the preparation which must pre- cede the attainment. Christ would here, as elsewhere, remind us that as He finds us—too often it may be meaning well but doing ill—so shall we be judged. Present slackness in well-doing will not be accepted as a voucher for future holiness : we must strive so to run, as to obtain. “ For He said before to us when He taught that that which is weak shall be saved through that which is strong.” This saying comes from the Due Viz and may possibly be genuine. We may compare our Lord’s words in St Matthew, “They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.” * St Paul remarks in the Romans: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son .. . condemned sin in the flesh.” * And again he remarks: “To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak.”* And later on he quotes the divine reply to his complaint as being: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for My power is made perfect in weakness.” ὅ 1 Due Vie vel Judicium Petri, c. 26. προέλεγε yap ἡμῖν, ὅτε ἐδίδασκεν ort TO ἀσθενὲς Bid τοῦ ἰσχυροῦ σωθήσεται. 2 Matt. ix.12. * Rom. 1.8 41 Οὐχ. ix. 22. ὅ. 2 Cor. xii. 9. 102 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST There is an interesting remark in Minucius Felix’ “Octavius”: “For fortitude is made strong by weak- nesses.” We may also compare: “from weakness were made strong.” 2 “And again the Lord says, He that is married, let lim not put away his wife: and he that is not married, let him not marry. He who has agreed not to marry for the purpose of chastity, let him remain unmarried.” The saying is quoted by Clement of Alexandria * and seems to put in a slightly different setting St Paul’s words : “ But unto the married I give charge, yea not I, but the Lord, that the wife depart not from her hus- band . . . and that the husband leave not his wife.” 4 And again, “ Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed.” ® “ For the Scripture saith, The untested man is wn- worthy.” 1 Minucius Felix. Octav. xxxvi. Gall. ii. Fortitudo enim infirmi- tatibus roboratur. 2 Heb, xi. 34. 3 Clem. Alex. Strom. iii. 15, 97. πάλιν ὁ Κύριός φησιν" ὁ γήμας μὴ ἐκβαλλέτω καὶ ὁ μὴ γαμήσας μὴ γαμείτω: ὁ κατὰ πρόθεσιν εὐνουχίας ὁμολογήσας μὴ γῆμαι ἄγαμος διαμενέτω. 41 Cor. vii. 10, 11. 5 1 Cor, vii. 27. SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 108 The saying is from the Didascalia,’ and is borne out by a passage in the Constitutions.” Tertullian seems to have known of the saying, for he writes: “ Watch and pray, He says, lest ye enter into temptation. . . . For there had been a saying before (of the Lord) that no one who was untried would gain the heavenly kingdoms.” * St James has similar advice : “ Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he hath been approved he shall receive the crown of life” ;+ and St Peter also speaks of the benefit of ‘manifold temptations.” ὅ It is by no means improbable that our Lord gave utterance to some such saying as this. The early Christians would know what it was to be tempted not only by temptations, but by the more cruel trial of per- secution and martyrdom. “ For it is written, Cleave to the holy: for they who cleave to them shall themselves be made holy.” The saying is quoted by Clement of Rome,® and may very possibly be genuine. 1 Didase. ii. 8. λέγει yap αὶ γραφή ᾿Ανὴρ ἀδόκιμος ἀπείραστος. 2 Const. ii. 8, λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφή ᾿Ανὴρ ἀδόκιμος ἀπείραστος παρὰ τῳ θεῷ. 3 Tertull. de Bapt.c. 20. Vigilate et orate, inquit, ne incidatis in tentationem. . . . Nam et precesserat dictum (sc. Domini) Neminem intentatum regna celestia consecuturum. 4 Jas. i. 12. 5 1 Pet. i. 6. 5 Clem. R. i. 46, 2. γέγραπται yap Κολλᾶσθε τοῖς ἁγίοις, ὅτι οἱ κολλώμενοι αὐτοῖς ἁγιασθήσονται. 104 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST St John’s words may possibly refer to the same thought: “ And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.” 1 Clement of Alexandria groups the saying with the verse from the Psalms: “For it is written, With the guiltless man thou shalt be guiltless, and with the elect thou shalt be elect, and with the perverse thou shalt be perverse. It is fitting, then, to cleave to the saints: for they who cleave to them shall be made holy.” * “The Lord| Himself imstructing and warning us, . . . So see ye Me in yourselves, as any one of you sees himself in water or in ὦ mirror.” The saying is given in the treatise “de Montibus” attached to the works of Cyprian.? It may be compared with the saying, ‘Thou hast seen thy brother, thou hast seen thy God.” St John gives words of our Lord somewhat similar: ‘In that day ye shall know, that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.”* And St Paul remarks: “I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me.”® St James makes mention of the 1 John xvii. 19. 2 Clem. Alex. Strom. v. 8, 58. γέγραπται δὲ μετὰ ἀνδρὸς ἀθῴου aq os ἔσῃ καὶ μετὰ ἐκλεκτοῦ ἐκλεκτὸς ἔσῃ, καὶ μετὰ στρεβλοῦ διαστρέψει:" κολλᾶσθαι οὖν τοῖς ἁγίοις προσήκει, ὅτι οἱ κολλώμενοι αὐτοῖς ἁγιασθήσονται. 3 Pseudo-Cypr. de duob. Mont.c. 18. Ipso nos instruente et monente (se. Domino) . . . ita me in vobis videte, quomodo quis vestrum se videt in aquam aut in speculum. 4 John xiv. 20. 5 Gal. ii. 20. SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES τοῦ mirror ;+ and St Paul speaks of “seeing in a mirror, darkly.” * The “saying” does not come to us on very strong authority ; but it is quite possible that our Lord thus spoke. 7 “How that the Presbyters, who saw John the Lord’s disciple, have mentioned that they had heard from him] how that the Lord taught concerning those times and said, The days will come in which vines shall grow, each having ten thousand stems, and on each stem ten thou- sand branches, and on each branch ten thousand shoots, and on each shoot ten thousand clusters, and on each cluster ten thousand grapes, and each grape, when _ pressed, shall give twenty-five measures of wine. And when any of the saints shall have taken one cluster, another shall cry—I am a better cluster: take me: by means of me, bless the Lord. “ Tikewise also that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, and each grain ten pounds of fine clear flour: and so all remaining fruits and seeds and each herb according to its proper nature: and all ant- mals, using for their foods what is received from the earth, shall become peaceful, and in concord, being subject to men with all subjection. . . . “ And he (Papias) added, These things are credible to 1 Jas. i. 23. 2 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 106 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST them that believe. And when Judas, the traitor, did, he says, not believe, and asked, How shall such productions proceed from the Lord? the Lord said, They shall see who shall come to those times.” This extraordinary saying does not reach us very directly. Irenzus relates that Papias roughly gave it on the authority of those who had heard John say that Christ thus taught.* The saying, as we have it, comes through many hands and has probably grown in the tradition: but that our Lord said something of the kind is extremely likely. Isaiah has an equally mysterious passage: “And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall 1 Tren. v. 83. Quemadmodum presbyteri meminerunt, qui Joannem discipulum Domini viderunt, audisse se ab eo, quemad- modum de temporibus illis docebat Dominus et dicebat: Venient dies, in quibus vinee nascentur singula dena millia palmitum habentes, et in uno palmite dena millia brachiorum, et in uno brachio palmitis dena millia flagellorum, et in unoquoque flagello dena millia botruum, et in unoquoque botro dena millia acinorum, et unumquodque acinum expressum dabit viginti quinque metretas vini. Et cum eorum apprehenderit aliquis sanctorum botrum, alius clamabit botrus ego melior sum, me sume, per me Dominum benedic. Similiter et granum tritici decem millia spicarum genera- turum, et unumquodque granum quinque bilibras simile clare munde: et reliqua autem poma et semina et herbam secundum congruentiam iis consequentem: et omnia animalia iis cibis utentia, que a terra accipiuntur pacifica et consentanea invicem fieri, subjecta hominibus cum omni subjectione. . . . Et (Papias) adjecit dicens Hee autem credibilia sunt credentibus. Et Juda, inquit, pro- ditore non credente et interrogante Quomodo ergo tales geniture a Domino perficientur? dixisse Dominum Videbunt, qui venient in illa. SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES 107 lie down with the kid: and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” ἢ Amos too has a similar verse: “ Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes, him that soweth seed: and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.” 2 A passage somewhat similar occurs in the Apocalypse of Baruch: “The earth also shall give its fruits ten thousand fold, and on one vine there shall be a thousand stems: and each stem shall produce a thousand clusters : and each cluster shall produce a thousand grapes, and each grape shall produce a cor of wine: and those who have hungered shall be made glad, for indeed they shall see wonders daily.”> _ 1 Ts. xi. 6-9. 2 Amos ix. 13. 3. Apoc. Baruch xxix. Etiam terra dabit fruetus suos unum in decem millia, et in vite una erunt mille palmites, et unus palmes faciet mille botros, et botrus unus faciet mille acinos, et unus acinus faciet corum vini : et qui esurient jucundabuntur, iterum autem videbunt prodigia quotidie. : 108 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST The whole saying is mysterious and may be taken as putting in an extreme form the :fact, that faith was indeed a power. St Matthew’s words remind us that our Lord insisted on this truth: “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place: and it shall remove: and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”? 1 Matt. xvii. 20. SAYINGS OF PARTLY DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY Tue “sayings” that follow are regarded by most writers as having, possibly, not the same strong claim to be genuine utterances of Christ as those that _ precede. It is extremely likely, however, that some of them may be “Sayings of Christ.” They are, however, placed in this separate chapter, to avoid possibility of cavil. ‘Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he hath been approved he shall receive] the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.” The verse we have already in St James:! but it will be noticed that we nowhere have exact words a our Lord, in which the reward of the “crown of life” is definitely promised. That our Lord did sometime make such a promise is highly likely. St Paul in the Corinthians remarks: “Now they do it (ie. strive) to 1 Jas. i. 12. μακάριος ἀνὴρ ὃς ὑπομένει πειρασμόν, ὅτι δόκιμος γενό- μενος λήμψεται τὸν στέφανον τῆς ζωῆς, ὃν ἐπηγγείλατο τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν. 109 110 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST receive a corruptible crown: but we an incorruptible” ;! and again in his Epistle to Timothy : “ Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.” ? St Peter too seemed to know of some definite saying to this effect, for he says: “ And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory, which fadeth not away.” ὃ Also, in the Apocalypse we have these words, ascribed to “the first and the last who was dead and lived again,” “‘Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee the crown of life.” + And again, we may compare: “These things saith He that is holy, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and none shall shut, and that shutteth and none openeth. . . . Hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.”® It may be that these two sayings in the Apocalypse were prompted by a definite saying of our Lord which is not found in the Gospels. Some light is thrown on the matter by a sentence in the Acts of Philip: “ Behold my bride-chamber is ready, 11 Cor. ix. 25. ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν ἵνα φθαρτὸν στέφανον λάβωσιν, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἄφθαρτον. 3.2 Tim. iv. 8. λοιπὸν ἀπόκειταί μοι ὁ τῆς δικἀιοσύνης στέφανος, ὃν ἀποδώσει μοι ὁ κύριος ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ. 51 Pet. v. 4. . .. κομιεῖσθε τὸν ἀμαράντινον τῆς δόξης στέφανον. 4 Αγροο. ii. 10, γίνου πιστὸς ἄχρι θανάτου καὶ δώσω σοι τὸν στέφανον τῆς ζωῆς. 5 Αροο, iii. 11, κράτει ὁ ἔχεις ἵνα μηδεὶς λάβῃ. τὸν στέφανόν σου. SAYINGS OF DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY 111 and blessed is he that hath his own garment shining. For this is he who receiveth the crown of joy upon his head.” ? “And when He came into the house Jesus spake first to him saying, What thinkest thou, Simon, the kings of the earth, from whom do they receive toll or tribute— From their sons or from strangers? Peter saith to him, From strangers. Jesus said to him, Then are the children free? Simon said, Yes! Jesus saith to him, Then do thou give also as being an alien to them ; but lest we cause them to stumble, go thou to the sea and cast a hook and take up the fish that first cometh up, and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a shekel lying. That take and give unto them for Me and thee.” This appears to be an interesting variant of the passage about the tribute money in St Matthew,” and is found in the Codex Algerine Peckover (Ev. 561). It seems to be confirmed by the Arabic Harmony of the Diatessaron, save that the query is left out after “Then are the children free.” Possibly the Arabic Harmony, and the Codex, both borrowed from some common original source ; and this theory receives some 1 Acta Philippi, ed. Tischendorf, 1866, p. 147. ἰδοὺ ὁ νυμφών μου ἕτοιμός ἐστιν, καὶ μακάριός ἐστιν ὁ ἔχων τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ἔνδυμα λαμπρόν" αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ λαμβάνων τὸν στέφανον τῆς χαρᾶς ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ. 5 Matt, xvii, 26, 112 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST support from the old Latin text. The sense of the passage seems improved by the above rendering, and the sequence more natural.! “T say unto you that every good word which men shall not speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of gudgment.” The saying comes from Codex C of the Palestinian Syriac Lectionary of the Gospels, edited by Mrs Lewis and Mrs Gibson. It was noticed by Dr Rendel Harris in 1893, and from its parallelism to a saying of our Lord in St Matthew, it is possible that it is to be accepted. It will be remembered that our Lord’s words in St Matthew are, “ Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” 2 And it will be noticed that our Lord goes on directly to say, “ For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Inasmuch as the parallelism is here strongly brought out, there may be an implied reference to the new saying we are consider- ing, “He who refrained from idle words would be justified, and further, he who, alas! refrained from the needed good words would be condemned.” Thus the new saying may be a necessary complement 1 Codex Alg. Peckover. The particular passage, which varies from St Matthew, has these details which are noteworthy— . . . ἄρά γε ἐλεύθεροί εἰσιν οἱ υἱοί ; ἔφη Σίμων Nal. λέγει ὁ ᾿Τησοῦς Ads οὖν καὶ σύ, ws ἀλλότριος αὐτῶν. .. 2 Matt. xii. 36. SAYINGS OF DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY 118 to the one in St Matthew as to idle words. The mean- ing of the new saying would appear to be, that besides so ordering our tongue as to avoid the idle word, there is a further and more difficult task incumbent upon us, that of not hesitating to rebuke, when we thoroughly know that rebuke is needed, and of not forgetting to speak the word of kindness which may cheer a brother on, worn and weary, perhaps, with the struggle of life. That man is truly brave who speaks the truth in love. It may be necessary at times to utter the word of stern condemnation, and it may be necessary at times not to forget the word of genuine kindly sympathy. In either case, if the right word be not spoken the command of Christ will have been unkept. St James’s words may be remembered: “To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”! “And blessed are they who have shown mercy, for there they shall obtain mercy. “And woe to them who have not shown mercy, for they shall not obtain mercy.” This saying comes from Ephraem Syrus.?. From its parallelism it would seem to be extremely probable. St James has something very like it in another form: 1 Jas. iv. 17. 3 Ephraem Syr. opp. i. 30. καὶ μακάριοι of ἐλεήσαντες ὅτι ἐκεῖ ἐλεηθήσονται, καὶ οὐαὶ τοῖς μὴ ἐλεήσασιν ὅτι οὐκ ἐλεηθήσονται. Η 114 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST “For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment.” ἢ The saying is quoted by Ephraem among other pas- sages from the Gospels, and therefore, presumably, it may be considered that he regarded it as a saying of the Lord. “ For there are not two or three gathered together in My name, and I not amongst them.” The quotation is from the “Sinaitic Palimpsest of the Four' Gospels,” edited by Mrs Lewis.” From its parallelism, it would seem likely to be genuine, and would form the complementary statement to St Matthew’s words, “‘ For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” The saying is confirmed by the Codex Beze,* and the Codex Sangermanensis.* “ Accordingly in the ‘Preaching of Peter’ the Lord says to His disciples after the Resurrection, ‘J have chosen you twelve disciples, having judged you worthy of Me.’” ° 1 Jas. ii. 18. 2 The Four Gospels from the Sinaitic Palimpsest, A. 8. Lewis, p. xii. 3 Codex Cantab. (D) Matt. xviii. 20. οὐκ εἰσὶν yap δύο ἢ τρεῖς συνηγ- μένοι els τὸ ἐμὸν ὄνομα παρ᾽ ols οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν. 4 Codex Sangermanensis (g') Matt. xviii. 20. Non enim sunt con- gregati in nomine meo, inter quos ego non sum. 5Clem. Alex. Strom. vi. 6, 48. Αὐτίκα ἐν τῷ Πέτρου κηρύγματι ὁ κύριός φησι πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν Ἐλεξάμην ὑμᾶς δώδεκα μαθητὰς κρίνας ἀξίους ἐμου. : ; | SAYINGS OF DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY 115 This would seem to be little more than is told us by St John, “Did I not choose you the twelve?”? and again, “I know whom I have chosen.” ? “ Peter says, that the Lord said to His Apostles, Should then any one of Israel be willing to repent, so as to believe on God through My name, his sins shall be Forgiven him. After twelve years go out into the world, lest any one say we did not hear.” The passage is quoted in Clement of Alexandria.’ It will be remembered that St Luke, in the Acts, makes our Lord charge His apostles “not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father.” * How long they did actually wait there we are not exactly told. There is mention of the twelve years’ limit in Apollonius.® [According to some who alter the Gospels] (Christ says) “ Blessed are they who have been persecuted through righteousness, for they shall be perfect: and blessed are they who have been persecuted for My sake, 1 John vi. 70. 3 John xiii. 18. 3 Clem. Alex. Strom. vi. 5,43. dar οὔτο φησὶν ὁ Πέτρος εἰρηκέναι τὸν Κύριον τοῖς ἀποστόλοις" ἐὰν μὲν οὖν τις θελήσῃ τοῦ ᾿Ισραὴλ μετανοῆσαι διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματός μου πιστεύειν ἐπὶ τὸν θεὸν, ἀφεθήσονται αὐτῷ αἱ ἁμαρτίαι. μετὰ δώδεκα ἔτη ἐξέλθετε εἰς τὸν κόσμον μή τις εἴπῃ Οὐκ ἠκούσαμεν. * Acts i. 4. 5 Apollonius apud Euseb. H.Z. v. 18, 14. 116 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST for they shall have a place where they shall not be persecuted.” The quotation is from Clement of Alexandria." The parallelism of the two sentences would seem to make for the genuineness of the “saying,” and the beauty of it is marked. The saying would seem to point out the refining effect of suffering cheerfully and determinedly borne for Christ’s sake; and further, to speak of the abode of peace where this, what in the course of the Christian ages must have been to many a troubled, life past, they who have persevered will enter on that life from which sorrow and sighing will have fled away. “The Word says to us, Should any one for this reason kiss (a woman) a second time because she pleased him (he sins): and adds, men must therefore act with extreme caution in the kiss (or rather the salutation), as knowing that if perchance it should be sullied by thought, it would place them out of the pale of eternal life.” The passage comes from Athenagoras.? It is well 1Clem. Alex. Strom. iv. 41. ὥς τινες τῶν μετατιθέντων τὰ εὐαγγέλια Μακάριοι, φησίν, οἱ δεδιωγμένοι ὑπὸ τῆς δικαιοσύνης, ὅτι αὐτοὶ ἔσονται τέλειοι, καὶ μακάριοι οἱ δεδιωγμένοι ἔνεκα ἐμοῦ, ὅτι ἕξουσι τόπον ὅπου οὐ διωχθήσονται. 2 Athenagoras, Legat, xxxiii. ἡμῖν λέγοντος τοῦ λόγου' ἐάν τις διὰ τοῦτο ἐκ δευτέρου καταφιλήσῃ, ὅτι ἤρεσεν ἀὐτῷ " καὶ ἐπιφέροντος. οὕτως οὖν ἀκριβώσασθαι τὸ φίλημα, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ προσκύνημα δεῖ, ὡς, εἴ που μικρὸν τῇ διανοίᾳ παραθολωθείη, ἔξω ἡμᾶς τῆς αἰωνίου τιθέντος ζωῆς. ὌΠ ΎυΌτυσν τ τἷὐσ — a a PF SAYINGS OF DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY 117 for us to remember that some of our Lord’s sayings, even in the Gospels, lean to the sterner side of advice, and He most clearly taught that a bridle must be placed even upon our thoughts. The saying is hardly stronger than our Lord’s words in St Matthew, “I say unto you that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”' The allusion must be to the kiss given either in the Liturgical service or otherwise, which is so often mentioned in the Epistles. “Salute one another with a holy kiss.”* “Salute all the brethren with a holy kiss.”* ‘Salute one another with a kiss of love.” + “« For He (Christ) said, ... And there shall be schisms and heresies.” The saying comes from Justin and is placed immedi- ately after the words : “ Many shall come in My name, outwardly clad in sheep skins, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”® It occurs again in the Didascalia: “ As our Lord and Saviour said, There shall be heresies and schisms.”® St Paul alludes to these divisions in a strong sentence : “ For there must be also heresies among 1 Matt. v. 28. 2 Rom. xvi. 16. 31 Thess. v. 26. 41 Pet. v. 14. 5 Justin, Dial. Tryph. c. xxxv. εἶπε yap’ πολλοὶ ἐλεύσονται ἐπὶ τῳ ὀνόματί μου, ἔξωθεν ἐνδεδυμένοι δέρματα προβάτων, ἔσωθεν δέ εἰσι λύκοι ἅρπαγες" καὶ ἔσονται σχίσματα καὶ αἱρέσεις. ®Didase. vi. 5. ὡς καὶ ὁ Κύριος καὶ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν ἔφη, ὅτι ἔσονται αἱρέσεις καὶ σχίσματα. 118 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST you, that they which are approved may be made mani- fest among you.”' It has been thought by some that the force of the word must (δεῖ) may refer to St Paul’s ’ knowledge that our Lord had made some utterance on the subject. Certainly the fact of schisms and heresies within the Church, owing doubtless to many and various regrettable causes, is only too sadly manifest; and it may well be that our Lord in sadness foretold them. “The word of Christ which He spake to us, Accept not anything from any man, and possess not anything in the world.” The saying is quoted in Wright's “Ancient Syriac Documents.” 5 Our Lord constantly warned His followers against the encumbrance of riches and worldly possessions. In His charge to the Twelve Apostles, He warned them to dispense with gold, silver, brass in their purses, with wallet, coats, shoes and staff. * The “saying ” is supported by a passage in Ephraem Syrus: “I heard the good master saying in the holy Gospels to His own disciples, Possess nothing upon the earth.”* Clement of Alexandria has the phrase, “ Possess 11 Cor, xi. 19. 2 Wright, Ane. Syr. Doc. p. 20. 3 Matt. x. 9. 4Ephraem Syr. Test. p. 282. τοῦ yap ἀγαθοῦ διδασκάλου ἤκουσα ἐν ' ots θείοις εὐαγγελίοις φήσαντος τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μαθηταῖς: μηδὲν ἐπὶ γῆς κτήσασθε. ὦ SAYINGS OF DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY 119 ye treasures in heaven.” + The warning against ex- cessive trust in riches may not be unneeded at the present day. “ Buy for yourselves, He says, O ye sons of Adam, by means of these things that pass away which are not yours, that which is yours, which passes not away.” The saying is quoted by Ephraem Syrus,? and may well be compared with the previous saying. It would seem to be a comment on the sin of using wealth improperly, as is pointed out in St Luke’s parable of Dives and Lazarus.® Τὸ does not seem quite certain from the text that this is a saying of the Lord, though it probably may be. “As Christ consulted for the good of His flock in every want, so also while they were leading a solitary life in this state of sadness, He consoled them, saying, Where there is one, there also am I: lest any one should be saddened by solitude, because He Himself is our joy and He Himself is with us. And where two are, there also will I be, because His pity and grace overshadow us. And when we are three we assemble as into the 1Clem. Alex. Quis div. salv. § 13. κτήσασθε θησαυροὺς ἐν οὐρανῶ. 2Ephraem Syr. Evang. Cone. expos. p. 163. Emite vobis, ait, o filii Adami, per hee transitoria que non sunt vestra, id quod vestrum est, quod non transit. * Luke xvi. 19, etc. 120 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST Church, which is the perfect body of Christ and His express image.” The passage is from Ephraem Syrus,' and would seem to show that our Lord said, ‘ Where there is one, there also am I; and Where there are two there also will I be.” St Matthew's words may be compared: “For every one that asketh receiveth, . . . to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.”? St John’s words are, “Tf a man love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.” ὃ There is a similar passage in Ignatius: “For if the prayer of one, or two, has such power: how much more shall that of the Bishop and all the Church ? ” 4 In Pseudo-Ignatius comes the comment : “ For if the prayer of one or two has such power so that Christ stands in their midst.”® In the Apocryphal Acts of St 1Ephraem Syr. Zvang. Conc. expos. (ed. Mosinger) ec. xiv. Sicut in omnibus indigentiis gregi suo Christus consuluit, ita et vitam soli- tariam agentes in hac tristi conditione consolatus est dicens—Ubi unus est, ibi et ego sum, ne quisquam ex solitariis contristaretur, quia ipse est gaudium nostrum et ipse nobiscum est. Et ubi duo sunt, ibi et ego ero, quia misericordia et gratia ejus nobis obumbrat. Et quando tres sumus, quasi in ecclesiam coimus, que est corpus Christi perfectum et imago ejus expressa. 2 Matt. vii. 7. 3 John xiv. 28 4Ignat. ad Ephes. v. 2. el yap ἑνὸς καὶ δευτέρου προσευχὴ τοσαύτην ἰσχὺν ἔχει, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἥ τε του ἐπισκόπου καὶ πάσης τῆς ἐκκλησίας. 5Pseudo-Ign. Eph. v. εἰ γὰρ ἑνὸς καὶ δευτέρου προσευχὴ τοσαύτην ἰσχὺν ἔχει, ὠστὲ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἑστάναι. . .. SAYINGS OF DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY 121 John is this passage : “‘ When He is called by any one of us, He endureth not to shut His ears to us.” ἢ The saying in the “ Logia” should be compared, p. 63. It would seem probable that our Lord somewhere promised His presence even to one. “ Having received a commandment from Him to preach the Gospel to the whole world, and to make disciples of all nations, and to baptise them into His death by the command of the God of the universe, who is His Father, by the witness of the Spirit, who is His Paraclete.” The passage is quoted in the Constitutions,” and is borne out by several other passages where baptism is mentioned as being “baptism into the death of Christ.” It will be remembered St Matthew has “ baptising them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”* St Paul has the words—“ Are ye ignorant that all we who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death.”* And he further clearly associates the other great sacrament of the Lord’s Supper with the death of Christ—“ For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till He come.” 5 1 Apoc. Acta Joh. ὁ. xvii. dg? ἑκάστου ἡμῶν καλούμενος οὐχ ὑπομένει παρακοῦσαι ἡμῶν. 2 Const. v. 7. λαβόντες ἐντολὴν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ κηρύξαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον εἰς ὅλον τὸν κόσμον καὶ μαθητεῦσαι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη καὶ βαπτίσαι εἰς τὸν αὐτου θάνατον. 3 Matt. xxviii. 19. 4 Rom. vi, 3. 5 1 Cor. xi. 26, 122 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST “The Lord saith, . . . Call not therefore to your- selves a father upon the earth. For wpon the earth are lords, but in heaven the Father, of whom is all father- hood both in heaven and upon the earth.” The quotation is from Clement of Alexandria.! It seems to be a grouping of our Lord’s words in St Matthew—“ And call no man your father upon the earth”*—with St Paul’s words in the Ephesians— “ . . . the Father, from whom every family [fatherhood] in heaven and on earth is named.”* A similar passage occurs in Corinthians—“ Yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things.”* It may be our Lord spoke the saying in full, and we have in St Paul’s remark to the Ephesians a repetition of the second part. “ Wherefore He, being the true Prophet, sad, I am the gate of life: he that entereth through Me, entereth into life.” This saying is quoted in the Clementine Homilies,° and would seem to be hardly more than a variant of our Lord’s words in St John—“I am the door: by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go 1 Clem. Alex. Fragm. § 20. φησὶν ὁ Κύριος. . . μὴ καλέσητε οὖν ἑαυτοῖς πατέρα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, δεσπόται yap ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ἐν δὲ οὐρανοῖς ὁ πατήρ, ἐξ οὗ πᾶσα πατριὰ ἔν τε οὐρανοῖς, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. 2 Matt. xxiii. 9. 8 Ephes. iii. 15. 4 1 Cor. viii. 5. 5 Clem. Hom. iii. 52. διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸς ἀληθὴς dv προφήτης ἔλεγεν" ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ πύλη τῆς ζωῆς, ὁ δι’ ἐμοῦ εἰσερχόμενος εἰσέρχεται els τὴν ζωήν. EL SAYINGS OF DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY 123 in and go out and shall find pasture.”? The form of the saying is, however, striking, and the word “gate” conveys a new shade of meaning. “ Be ye kind and merciful, even as your Father is kind and merciful.” This saying occurs in Justin,” and is merely a variant. Si Paul gives us a similar saying—“ And be ye kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.” * Our Lord’s words in St Luke are—“‘ Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”* It will be seen therefore that the saying adds the duty of kindness as one to be aimed at, inasmuch as God is kind. “ Therefore I have said before in the Gospel, Pray for your enemies, and blessed are they who mourn for the destruction of the unbelieving.” The saying is given in the Didascalia.® It recalls our Lord’s words as given by St Matthew, “Blessed are they that mourn.” © 1 John x. 9. 2 Justin M. Apol.i. 15. γίνεσθε δὲ χρηστοὶ καὶ οἰκτίρμονες, ὡς καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ὑμῶν χρηστός ἐστι καὶ οἰκτίρμων. 3 Ephes. iv. 32. 4 Luke vi. 36. 5 Didase. v. 15. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐν εὐαγγελίῳ προείρηκα" προσεύχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ὑμῶν, καὶ μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες περὶ τῆς τῶν ἀπίστων ἀπωλείας. δ᾽ Matt. v. 4. 124 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST There is another passage in the Didascalia that seems to bear upon this: “Therefore when ye fast, pray for these that are utterly lost.” + | “Tf any man will come after Me, let him deny him- self and take up his cross daily REJOICING and follow Me.” The saying, which is a well-known one, but gains in force here by the addition of the word rejoicing, is given in Macarius.” It brings to mind the saying in St Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians—Rejoice in the Lord alway *—Clearly even the burden to be borne by us, which is the cross of the Lord, must be borne with rejoicing and accepted willingly as for our good. “ These are they about whom also the Lord with bitter- ness and severity declared His mind: saying that they are false Christs, and false teachers, who have blas- phemed the spirit of grace, and who, after the grace, have spurned the gift from Him. To whom it shall 1 Didase. v. 12, 18. διὰ τοῦτο ὅταν νηστεύετε προσεύχεσθε περὶ τῶν ἀπολλυμένων. 2 Macar. Hom. v.6. εἴ τις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἐλθεῖν, ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτὸν καὶ ἀράτω τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ Kal’ ἡμέραν χαίρων καὶ ἀκολουθείτω μοι. 3 Phil. v. 4. SAYINGS OF DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY 125 not be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in that to come.” The “saying” comes from the Apostolical Con- stitutions, and may possibly be a conflation of St Matthew's passages: “But whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come”; and again later on, “For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets.” It may possibly be a “saying” of Christ, but does not give us much that is new. “Even as the Lord said in the Gospel—If any one shall leave all things because of My name, in the second coming he shall inherit eternal life.” The quotation is from Agathangelus and is apparently a variant.” Our Lord’s words in St Matthew are, “ And every one that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands for My name’s sake shall receive a hundred fold, and shall inherit eternal life.” * 1 Const. vi. 18. οὗτοί εἶσι περὶ ὧν καὶ o κύριος πικρῶς καὶ ἀποτόμως ἀπεφήνατο' λέγων ὅτι εἷσὶ ψευδόχριστοι καὶ ψευδοδιδάσκαλοι, οἱ βλασφημήσαντες τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς χάριτος καὶ ἀποπτύσαντες τὴν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ δωρεὰν μετά τὴν χάριν, οἷς οὐκ ἀφεθήσεται οὔτε ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τοὔτῳ, οὔτε ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι. 2 Agathang. ed. De Lagarde, p. 84. καθ᾽ ὡς καὶ ὁ κύριος ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ ἔφη: εἴ τις ἀφήσει πάντα διὰ τὸ ὄνομά μου, ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ παρουσίᾳ ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσει. δ Matt. xix. 29. ἱ 126 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST “ How shall not the Lord, even now, say to such a one, The Gentiles are justified above you ?” The saying comes from the Constitutions, and is spoken to those who care for outward things and neglect the inward. A similar thought probably was in St Paul’s mind when he wrote, “ But by their (2.6. Israel’s) fall, salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.” ? “ Jesus the Infe-gwer answered, and said to His Apostles, Blessed 1s he who has crucified the world, and not let the world crucify hum.” The saying is quoted in Dr Carl Schmidt’s edition of “ Das erste Buch Jet.” ὃ It will be remembered that St Paul has the words: “The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world hath been crucified unto me and I unto the world.” + It is possible that St Paul had this “saying” in mind when he thus wrote. 1 Const. ii. 60. πῶς δὲ ὀυχὶ καὶ νῦν ἐρεῖ τῷ τοιούτῳ ὁ Κύριος" ἐδικαιώθη τὰ ἔθνη ὑπὲρ υἱμᾶς. 2 Rom. xi. 11. 5 Jesus, der Lebendige, antwortete und sprach zu seinen Aposteln, Selig ist der, welcher die Welt gekreuzigt hat und nicht die Welt hat ihn kreuzigen lassen, Vol. viii. Altchristlichen Literatur, Gebhardt und Harnack, p. 540. 4 Gal. vi. 14, SAYINGS OF DOUBTFUL AUTHORITY 127 “ Be ye brave in war, and fight with the old serpent, and ye shall receive an everlasting kingdom, saith the Lord.” This interesting saying is quoted in a volume of Old English Homilies and Homiletic Treatises of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It comes actually from No. 16 in the Lambeth MS. These Homilies are very ancient, and would seem even to be transcripts from a still older work of the eleventh century or earlier. The saying is introduced by the following note : “ This word which I now declare unto thee, our Lord uttered at a time when He dwelt in the land of Jerusalem, and admonished all that were there to fight bravely: and because the fight was strong to master and difficult to undertake, He promised them that great reward, pro- vided they would undertake the conflict.” We may compare the words in the Epistle to the Hebrews concerning the faithful “who subdued king- doms . .. obtained promises . . . waxed mighty in war.” 2 There are similar words in the Apocalypse: “ And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent . . . the deceiver of the whole world.” ὃ And again, “And he (the Angel) laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent . . . and bound him for a thousand years.” ¢ 1 Old Engl. Hom. ed. R. Morris, Early Eng. Text Soc. 2 Heb. xi. 33. 3 Rev. xii. 9. * Rev. xx. 2. 128 THE UNWRITTEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST There are words as to the kingdom in St Peter's second epistle : “‘ For thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Ὁ “Jesus has said, the world rs but a bridge, over which you must pass, but must not linger to build your dwelling.” This remarkable saying is noticed in Miss C. F. Gordon-Cumming’s book on India, entitled “In the Himalayas.” It is inscribed in Arabic on the chief gateway of (what is now the ruined city of) Futteypore Sikri, which the Mogul Emperor Akbar the Just built. It is indeed a strange place for a saying of our Lord to be found in, and yet its very strangeness—a Chris- tian precept in a decidedly non-Christian country—may point to the fact that it has some authority, and probably may be traced historically to some now un- known source. 1 2 Pet, i. 11. 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